L'Amour, Toujours l'Amour
by The Yank and The Brit
Summary: This is a story about jealousy, trust and love. What happens when Amanda is assigned to do a Peacock Dance in order to save the President's life? This story takes place a year and a half, after the series has ended. The marriage is still a secret.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** The characters from Scarecrow and Mrs. King are the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. We have borrowed the characters without the consent or knowledge of Warner Brothers or Shoot the Moon. This story, however, is copyrighted to the mentioned authors. This story is for entertainment purposes ONLY. If you would like to add it to an archive, please just let us know.

**Summary:** This is a story about jealousy, trust and love. What happens when Amanda is assigned to do a Peacock Dance?

**Timeframe: **This story takes place a year and a half, after the series has ended. The marriage is still a secret, which also means, their jobs are too.

**Author's Notes:** For those who do not speak French the title translates to: Love, Always love.

This story came about as a direct result to a challenge by b5alleycat over on the Wicky site. The challenge was to write a story where Lee sends Amanda a note asking her to meet him for a date. Unfortunately Dotty ends up with the note, and since there is no name on it and she thinks it's for her from her current boyfriend, Dotty goes to the Restaurant or wherever Lee has arranged for the date to take place and runs into Lee. Chaos ensues. The story you're about to read is actually a combination of a story idea that popped into our heads and the challenge. Hope you enjoy what our creative minds and muses came up with.

**Rated:** R

* * *

**L'Amour, Toujours l'Amour**

_By The Yank and The Brit_

**Chapter 1**

Outside the second floor window of a non-descript brick Georgetown building, a bright red cardinal sat perched on his tree branch, singing to his beautiful female companion. The female cardinal moved closer to her suitor, unaware that inside the room on the other side of the window, another male was contemplating how to woo his mate.

Lee Stetson sat at his desk, trying desperately to think of anything but his lovely wife. She was sitting there, so perfect, so inviting as she chewed on her pencil, deeply engrossed in the file she was reading, and it was driving him crazy. Did she have any idea the things he wanted to do to her, and how long it had been since he'd done them? Way too long in his opinion. Between their current caseload, the security classes Amanda had been teaching in Beaman's absence and the boys' activities, it had been three weeks, four days and fifteen hours since they had had any real time alone. Glancing down at his appointment book, he turned to today's page. As of yesterday, they had completed a very high profile case, and were now wrapping up the more mundane assignments, ones that could, if necessary, be pushed to the back burner. Scanning the calendar, he saw that Amanda had no classes today, and other than a meet with one of his family at three, their schedule was clear for the rest of the day. Closing the book, he looked back up at his wife with a devilish grin on his face.

Sensing her husband's eyes on her, Amanda looked up at him with a slightly suspicious expression. "What's going through that mind of yours, Stetson?"

"Just thinking how beautiful you are." Lee smiled admiringly at his wife.

A slow pink hue began to creep onto Amanda's cheeks, and she looked back down at the file in her hand. "Why do I have a feeling you have more on your mind than just my beauty?"

Lee shrugged. "Do you realize how long it's been since we spent the night alone?"

Amanda looked back up at her husband and caught him waggling his eyebrows at her. "Too long, if you ask me."

Lee nodded and, pushing his chair back from his desk, he rose from his seat and walked over to his wife's desk. Sitting down on the edge, he gently removed the pencil from her hand. "Well, I think that's something we should rectify immediately, don't you?"

Amanda gazed up at him with an expression of shock mixed with anticipation. "Lee! We're at work."

With a look that almost made her toes curl, Lee leaned down to place a kiss on her nose. "Yes, but our calendar is free until three when we're supposed to meet up with Lana." He rose from his position on the desk and moved to stand behind his wife. Placing his hands on her shoulders briefly, he slowly slid them down her arms. Leaning down, he placed featherlight kisses just below her ear. "We could take a long lunch." He whispered suggestively into her ear.

Amanda tried to keep her emotions under control. Even if they did have a clear calendar, she still had a huge stack of files that needed her attention sitting in her inbox. "It's too early for lunch. Besides, I'm not hungry." A shiver ran down her spine as her husband found a particularly sensitive spot.

Lee removed his hands from her arms, and stepping back, spun her chair around so that he was looking her directly in the eyes. "Neither am I." He grinned devilishly. "At least not for food. Come on, let's get out of here and head over to the apartment before someone decides that Scarecrow and Mrs. King are just the people they need for some urgent assignment."

Amanda glanced over at the stack of files, and then back up at her husband. Grinning, she turned and opened her bottom drawer. Pulling out her purse, she began to stand up. "You know what I think…I think a long lunch is beginning to sound like exactly what I need." She reached out and took her husband's hand in hers. As she began to lead him towards the door, the phone began ringing.

"Damn!" Lee glanced briefly towards the infernal contraption. "You know what, let it ring. I'm tired of being at everyone's beck and call. I want to spend some time with my wife."

"Lee, what if it's Mr. Melrose. He can just as easily check with Mrs. Marston to find out if we're here or not." Amanda started moving to answer the phone.

Lee stepped between her and the desk. "Leave it. If we run, we can be outside and heading towards my car before Billy has a chance to dial her number."

"But…"

"Amanda…didn't you ever play hooky when you were in school?" Lee looked at her seriously. "Besides, it's not like this is the first time you and I have ditched work."

Amanda nodded at the truth of his statement. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him towards the door. Swinging it open, she yanked him out into the hallway.

Lee took the keys to the Q-Bureau out of his pocket and quickly locked the door. He then chased after his wife towards the stairs. After rushing through the exterior door, he raced after her down the steps. Halfway down, Amanda had slowed her pace and he did the same. Although Mrs. Marston's back was to the stairs, it would look a tad bit suspicious if they were to be caught running through the halls, so to speak, by the Agency hall monitor. After descending the remainder of the stairs, they casually pulled off their badges, and passed them to Mrs. Marston. Then, with quiet dignity, he followed Amanda to the front door. Reaching his hand around her, he opened the door for his wife, and then followed her outside.

Lee quickly shut the door behind him and then, taking his wife's hand in his, he began racing towards his car. He wasn't taking any chances that Billy was the one calling looking for them, and if he had seen them on the monitors in his office walking through the foyer, he probably wouldn't hesitate to send the MPs out after them.

_SMK SMK SMK_

Amanda let out a small sound, halfway between a sigh and a giggle, as she leaned her head against the headrest of the Corvette and turned to look at her husband. "As much as I enjoyed that Lee, I don't think we should do it too often during the work week. It hardly puts me in the right frame of mind for work." She rubbed her stomach when it let out growl. "And now I'm hungry, really hungry, and we don't have time to stop for something to eat."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, we've seen to one appetite," Lee grinned at her slyly and winked, before turning his attention back to the road, "but never bothered to think about the other one. Oh well, it's not the first time we've skipped lunch. Maybe we can find a way to grab an early dinner."

"As wonderful as that sounds, I doubt Mr. Melrose is going to let us get away with leaving early, after we just took," Amanda glanced down at her watch, "a three hour lunch. Besides, we promised the boys we'd try and make it home in time for dinner." She reached over and rubbed her husband's arm affectionately. "It has been a while since we were able to have a real family dinner, especially since Joe had the boys this past weekend."

Lee sighed. "You're right, it has been about a week since I've spent any real time with them. We've been getting back to the house so late that your mother's already herding them upstairs to bed."

Amanda glanced out the window at the passing scenery. "I don't think I asked you where we were meeting Lana."

"She asked us to meet her near the Washington Monument. Less conspicuous if we act like tourists." Lee began scanning the area for a parking spot. Finding one not far from their destination, he quickly pulled the 'Vette into the spot and put the vehicle in park. "Even with our very enjoyable lunch, we still made it here with a few minutes to spare," he smiled as he glanced at his watch, "enough time to casually stroll to the meet, and still maintain our cover."

Amanda rolled her eyes and laughed. As she started to open her car door, she stopped and looked back at her husband with a curious glance. "Other than taking a stroll, how are we going to look the part of tourists, I don't suppose you have a camera in your hatch?"

Lee smiled again and nodded. "A good agent is always prepared." He climbed out of the driver's seat and, after closing his door, walked around to the back of the 'Vette and opened the hatch. Leaning in, he quickly pulled out a black leather case.

Amanda walked over to her husband shaking her head in amusement. "When will I learn to stop doubting you?" She smiled as she watched Lee pull out his camera and hang it around his neck.

Lee closed the hatch and wrapped his arm around his wife. "Ready to do some sightseeing my love?"

Amanda nodded and, tightening her coat around her to ward off the cold, began walking in the direction of the Washington Monument. She smiled when she felt the familiar sensation of her husband's arm wrap around her waist. "You know, it may be cold, but there's something about Washington in winter that just gives it a really festive look."

Lee pulled his wife closer to him. "I have to admit that until I met you, I never really spent that much time admiring the scenery or enjoying the holidays for that matter." He turned his head and placed a kiss in her hair.

"I'm glad I'm the one who opened your eyes." Amanda smiled to herself as she thought about the many different implications of that one statement.

"In more ways then one." Lee gave a lighthearted laugh as he scanned the area looking for Lana. It didn't take him long to find the blonde sitting on a bench along the walkway. "I see her, just ahead. I think the best way to play this is to get a few pictures of each other standing in front of the Monument and then we can approach her and ask her to take one of the two of us."

Amanda smiled. "I like that idea, and it would actually be nice to have a real picture of you and I, that we can actually display."

"You know, I like the sound of that. Since it'll be a work-related photo, we'll be able to put it up in the Q Bureau without raising suspicion" Lee guided Amanda past Lana's position, and subtly nodded at the blonde. He then walked a little further and then stopped. "Honey, I think right here would be the perfect spot." His wife nodded and smiled, as he backed up and removed the camera from around his neck. Taking the lens cap off, he made the pretense of taking Amanda's picture.

Amanda smiled for the picture and then, as Lee lowered the camera, she looked beyond him towards Lana. "Excuse me, miss," she waited till the blonde looked in her direction. "Would you mind taking a picture of the two of us?"

Lana rose from her seat and smiled. "Not at all." She answered in a voice thick with accent as she approached Lee. "Nice cover story."

"Hey, I like to improvise." Lee began making a show of telling Lana how to work the camera. "Take the picture and then we'll talk." He handed her the camera and started walking over to his wife.

Lana nodded and waited for Lee to reach Amanda's side. She watched as Lee put his arm around the brunette, and it suddenly struck her how well the couple fit together. She wondered if they even knew how perfect a fit they were. Realizing that it was really none of her business, especially since she was only a part of Lee Stetson's unofficial family, she brought the camera up to her eyes. She then focused the lens and snapped the picture. "Would you like me to take another one, just to be safe?" She asked as she lowered the camera and smiled at the couple.

Lee shook his head as he led Amanda towards the blonde. "Thank you, but one is plenty. We want to save room on the roll for more of the sights." He reached out and took the camera back from Lana and, in a quieter voice, he added, "so, what's so important that we're meeting out here on a cold day in January?"

"Lee, stop being so rude. At least say hi to Lana before you pounce on her for information. She's not Augie you know." Amanda gave him a stern glare before turning her attention to the blonde. "Nice to see you again, Lana."  
"It's nice to see you again, too Amanda, and I've given up all hopes of ever seeing an ounce of manners from this guy." Lana chuckled softly as she pointed in Lee's direction.

Lee groaned and rolled his eyes. "Can we just get down to business, please? I don't feel like freezing my ass off all day."

Lana exchanged a knowing smile with Amanda and then looked over at Lee. "You've heard of Anton Stoev, the Bulgarian Cultural Attaché, right?"

Lee nodded. "Yeah I know of him. He's the KGB's representative at the Bulgarian Embassy." He looked over at his wife, and watched her nod in recognition of the name as well.

"Well he came in for his weekly massage yesterday and has this bad habit of talking on the phone while I work. Usually he's talking to some lady friend so I try not to listen. However, every now and then he does talk a little business, usually small inconsequential things." Lana leaned in a little closer towards the couple. "Well, yesterday he was setting up a meet with someone who sounded like a member of the Secret Service."

Lee looked at the blonde curiously. "How did you know he was talking to a Secret Service agent?"

Lana gave a small sigh of frustration. "Because, Anton kept asking the person on the other end if he was sure he'd be guarding Bush. I'm guessing that he meant President-Elect Bush."

"That would be a logical connection." Amanda nodded. "Do you think Mr. Stoev could be planning something against President-Elect Bush?"

"I think so, because he also said something about 'our North African friends' to the person on the other end of the phone." Lana gave a quick glance around, making sure that no one was watching them.

Lee did his own quick scan and then looked back at Lana. "You mean the Libyans?"

Lana shrugged. "He never said anything like that, just North African friends."

"You said something about Mr. Stoev arranging a meet with this Secret Service agent," Amanda pulled her coat tighter around her, as a small gust of cold air blew, "I don't suppose you heard where and when they would be meeting, did you?"

Lana smiled. "Actually, I did. It's one of the reasons I suggested we meet here." Noticing a few people walking in their direction, she spoke a little louder, to give them and anyone else who might have been watching the idea that she was just advising the tourists on good places to see. "You know I've heard the Tidal Basin is a wonderful place to walk around, especially at this time of year. Without leaves on the trees you can see all the different buildings of D.C." Then in a lower voice, she added. "They're planning on meeting at the end of the Tidal Basin where you can stare across the water right at the Jefferson Memorial. Anton mentioned something about four o'clock."

Lee glanced down at his watch. "That only gives us about half an hour to get over there. It's only few blocks from here so we could walk, but we'd be frozen by the time we got there, so I think we're going to have to drive." He glanced over at his wife. "And with traffic, we should probably head over there now. Maybe we can find a hot dog vendor and grab a bite to eat."

Amanda nodded. "Thank you, Lana. Take care of yourself, and thanks for taking our picture." She smiled and then turned to head back towards Lee's car.

"Yes, thanks Lana. Keep in touch if you hear anything else." Lee turned and put his hand at the small of Amanda's back as he began to lead her towards the 'Vette. "Guess this means dinner with the boys is off."

Amanda sighed. "Yeah. I was really looking forward to it too. But you're right, depending on what we find out at this meeting, we're going to have to head straight back to the Agency and give Mr. Melrose the information. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night." She sighed again. "Phillip and Jamie are going to forget what we look like soon, if we don't start catching a break."

Lee moved his hand from her lower back and, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulled her closer to him. "We'll just have to make it up to them this weekend. Do something really special, something where we get to spend an entire day with them preferably something indoors if this weather keeps up."

Amanda put her arm around him and moved a little closer to her husband, trying to gain some warmth from his body as they walked briskly back towards the car. "We'll figure something out. But for now, I guess we need to concentrate on keeping our nation safe, yet again."

Reaching the 'Vette, Lee opened the passenger door for his wife. "Well when duty calls…" He smiled as he watched Amanda climb into the car. "But as long as I have you by my side, duty can call anytime it wants."

Amanda laughed and raised her eyebrows mockingly. "Anytime?"

"Well maybe not anytime. But you know what I mean." Watching her nod, Lee closed the door and then walked around to the driver's side, anxious to get over to the Tidal Basin.

_SMK SMK SMK_

Lee took a bite of his hotdog as he strolled down the walkway with Amanda by his side. "Not the most nutritious meal, but at least it satisfies our grumbling stomachs."

Amanda nodded as she finished chewing the last bit of her hotdog. She wiped her mouth with a napkin, and had just started tossing it into a nearby trashcan when she spotted a nervous looking gentlemen pacing back and forth in front of a tree a few yards ahead of them. "Lee, do you see that man over there." She motioned with her head, not wanting to point and look obvious.

Lee nodded as he threw his own wrapper away and placed his arm around her waist. Pulling her close to him, he nuzzled her hair. "Yes, I do, and look, isn't it convenient that there's a bench at the edge of the walk. A perfect place to snap some pictures."

Amanda eyed him skeptically. "Lee, I don't think we're going to be able to covertly snap pictures with the camera around your neck."

"Not to worry my love, I happen to have my little mini camera on me." Lee guided her over to the bench and sat down, pulling her down with him. "I never turned it back in after our little break and enter yesterday."

Amanda smiled as she put her legs over her husband's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well I must say that we're definitely well prepared for an impromptu surveillance then, aren't we?" She was about to make a further comment, when she spotted a stocky, dark haired man approaching the nervous man by the tree. She recognized him instantly as Anton Stoev. "Looks like we got here just in time." She looked closer at the man who she assumed was a member of the Secret Service. He wasn't bad looking, most likely in his mid-thirties, with short sandy blond hair. She did note, however, that the young man couldn't control his nervousness. He kept glancing around as if he was afraid he was going to get caught. Fortunately, he only glanced in their direction once, and didn't seem to be too worried about them, as he turned his focus back on the approaching Bulgarian.

Lee placed a kiss on his wife's neck as he discreetly glanced at the tree behind them. "Too bad we couldn't get closer. I'd love to be able to hear what they're saying. At least at this range, however, we should at least get some decent enough pictures. Even if the images are small, our guys in the lab can blow up the pictures enough so we can identify the guy Stoev's meeting with." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the mini camera. He then inconspicuously passed it to his wife.

Amanda brought the camera up to her eye, making sure to keep it hidden behind Lee's face. She hoped that anyone looking at them would just mistake them for a couple in love, necking on a park bench. "I hope the cops don't stop us for improper conduct."

Lee chuckled and nibbled gently on his wife's ear. "Well, I guess while you're working, I might as well make this look convincing."

Amanda squirmed slightly when Lee's breath tickled the sensitive spot at the base of her neck. "Lee," she whispered, her voice husky, "try and remember we are working. You don't want to start something that we can't finish, at least not here. Or not only will our two suspects notice us, but we'll most definitely get arrested for indecent exposure."

Lee grinned before placing another kiss on her neck. "Can I help it if you're so hard to resist."

Amanda rolled her eyes as she snapped another picture. "How about we discuss what we're going to do with the boys this weekend." Watching the two men deep in conversation, she couldn't help but notice that in addition to being nervous, the blond man seemed very tense and rigid as he talked to Stoev, almost as if he would rather be anyplace but here.

"How about we talk about how we want to spend our two-year anniversary, instead." Lee blew seductively into her ear.

Amanda clenched her teeth trying to fight off the feelings her husband was invoking in her. "Lee, you keep that up and not only will we get arrested, but I doubt we'll have jobs to go back to because Mr. Melrose will figure out the real reason we left the office this morning." She wiggled slightly in his grasp. "Now, about what we're going to do with Phillip and Jamie this weekend…"

"You really do know how to spoil the mood." Lee groaned and then tried to stifle a yelp when he felt his wife's knee in his stomach. "Okay, okay. How about we take the boys to the Air and Space Museum, then we can go for pizza and maybe even a movie if it's not too late?"

"That could work." Amanda replied as she snapped another picture of the two men. "Just as long as we don't bump into any of your old girlfriends, you know the ones who think you're really an astronaut."

Lee let out a small grunt. "Ha, ha. I wouldn't worry about that. I hate to admit it, but the women I told I was an astronaut, wouldn't have known what a museum was, let alone that there was one dedicated to air and space here in D.C."  
Amanda giggled. "Yeah, you did date a few airheads didn't you?"

Lee pulled back slightly and looked at his wife, careful not to disturb her activities. "And how would you know? I don't remember introducing that many of my old girlfriends to you."

Amanda palmed the camera and glanced at her husband. "Don't you remember when Serdyech came back, Francine and I had to track down all the women in your four little black books?"

Lee closed his eyes and nodded. He didn't like to remember that particular case. "Okay, point well taken."

Amanda placed a gentle kiss on her husband's cheek. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject." She brought the camera back up and snapped another picture. "But, seriously, Lee, what are we going to do if one day we're out with the boys and we bump into an old girlfriend or worse a colleague?"

Lee sighed and placed a kiss in his wife's hair. "Well, other than one of our fellow agents getting suspicious as to why I'm hanging around with you and the boys, they know enough to be discreet. No mention of the Agency would come up. As for ex-girlfriends, I really don't know, Amanda. I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when and if we get to it." He heard his wife's barely audible groan. "I know that's a bit cliché, but it's the truth. We can't plan ahead for every scenario. Being in this business for the last five years, you should know that by now."

Amanda let out a sigh. "I know. I just worry about the future." She leaned forward and placed a kiss next to his ear. "I love you and I love the work we do, but I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. I know that we can't go on living like this forever, you've said it yourself before that sometimes our marriage is like working for the fire department. We don't get enough time to be husband and wife, and I don't just mean in the bedroom either. And there's another thing we need to think about, even though we're not publicly married, I've helped put away enough bad guys that my name isn't exactly unknown in certain circles, anymore. I think we need to discuss ways to protect mother and the boys better. Which brings me to one last point, maybe it's time to have a serious talk about going public with our marriage."

"Amanda…" Lee let out a long sigh. "As much as I agree with you, I don't think now is the right time for this discussion. I think…"

"Wait," Amanda interrupted her husband, "it looks like the meeting is over, they're both walking off in different directions." She palmed the camera again and slipped it into her jacket pocket. Then, reluctantly, she broke their embrace and removed her legs off of her husband's lap. "I guess we should get these back to the Agency." She patted the pocket the camera was in.

"Yeah, and check in with Billy. I'm sure he's not going to be happy with us for leaving at eleven this morning and only strolling back in around," Lee glanced at his watch, "five o'clock."

Amanda nodded and rose from the bench. She reached out her hand and smiled when her husband linked his fingers through hers. "I'm sure Francine has the tongues wagging about why we disappeared, too."

"Let them talk." Lee grinned as they walked hand in hand back towards his car. "I'm off the market for good and one day we'll be able to give the office gossips some real ammunition, not just speculation."

Amanda squeezed her husband's hand affectionately. "I look forward to that day." She sighed. She really was looking forward to the day that they could tell their family and friends, and the world for that matter, just how much they loved each other. But her husband was right, that was a topic for another day, right now they had a possible attempt on the newly elected President's life to stop. Discussions about their marriage woes would just have to wait.

_SMK SMK SMK_

Lee let Amanda enter the bullpen ahead of him. He then placed his hand at the small of her back and began leading her over to the daily log table. He knew they needed to account for the time they had spent away from the Agency and it was vital that they report the meeting with his contact and then the surveillance. Upon reaching the table, he watched his wife pick up the pen and begin writing in the book.

"Stetson! King! My office, NOW!" Billy's voice thundered through the bullpen. He then turned and headed back into his office, leaving the door open for his two wayward agents. He had told them that their relationship was fine with him, but he hoped they hadn't abused Agency time for a very long secret rendezvous.

Amanda's back stiffened at the tone of her boss' voice and quickly finished writing in the logbook. She then exchanged an 'uh oh we're in big trouble' glance with her husband as they both hastened towards their section chief's office. Glancing down at her watch, she saw that it was already a little after six and she knew they were going to get a pretty good lecture from Mr. Melrose. It wasn't their fault that they had hit rush hour traffic and it took them close to an hour to get back to the office.

Lee let his wife enter the office ahead of him, and as he followed her in, he closed the door behind them. "You bellowed," he joked as he watched his wife take a seat in front of Billy's desk and then moved over to stand by the window.

Billy glared at him. "I'm in no mood for your impertinence, Scarecrow." He glanced at his watch and then back up at the agent. "Where the devil have you two been?" He let his gaze fall on the usually more sensible of the pair. "I've been looking for you since eleven o'clock this morning. I happen to know that you deliberately ignored my phone call. What was so important that you had to leave and not take a moment to answer the phone in the Q-Bureau? Let alone the fact that you didn't seem to be answering your car phone either."

Amanda cleared her throat. "Sir, we…er… well with nothing on our schedule this morning, we decided to take an early lunch. And then we had to meet with one of Lee's family."

Billy folded his arms across his chest. "A meet that took seven hours? Where was this meet, Richmond?" He glared back in Lee's direction. "Because if it wasn't then the information you got had better be worth you disappearing off the grid for so long without once checking in."

Lee casually strolled over and sat in the vacant seat next to his wife. "Oh, believe me Billy, it was." He kept his gaze on his boss, not daring to look over at Amanda. He hadn't thought about the double meaning to his comment until after it was already out of his mouth. Clearing his throat, he leaned forward. "One of my family overheard Anton Stoev talking to someone about a possible assassination plot against President-Elect Bush."

Billy relaxed his posture and stared intently at his agent. "I gather you spent the remaining time confirming this information? Because I can't go to Dr. Smyth with a possibility, it has to be something concrete."

Amanda nodded. "We realize that, sir. Lee's contact said that she overheard Mr. Stoev planning a meet for this afternoon. So we set up some minor surveillance," she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the mini camera, "and got some pictures of Mr. Stoev talking to a young man. From what Lana told us, the young man he was talking to, is very likely a member of the Secret Service."

Billy let out a slow whistle and then reached into his desk drawer. Pulling out the bottle of Tums, he popped a few into his mouth. "We'll have to wait until the pictures are developed to verify that the man you saw Stoev with is Secret Service or not. But this could be bad, very, very bad. Do you think the Stoev is working alone, or do you think he has the support of the KGB too?"

Lee shrugged. "Somehow I don't think he's doing this on behalf of the KGB, I have a hunch the Libyans might be involved."

Billy's eyes grew wide. "The Libyans? Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not entirely sure." Lee shook his head. "Lana said that she overheard Stoev mention something about 'North African friends' which, in reality, could mean any number of our enemies. But think about it Billy," he stood up and began pacing, "it makes sense. I don't think they've forgiven us for instantly accusing them for the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing last month, even though it turned out they were the ones behind it. This would be just like them to do something very drastic in retaliation. What better way to get back at us than to assassinate the President as he's being sworn in?"

Amanda turned and looked at her husband. "I don't remember Lana mentioning anything about the assassination happening during the Inauguration, and I was there the whole time she was talking to us."

Lee stopped pacing and glanced at his wife. "She didn't, but it makes the most sense. We're only four days away from the twentieth, and what better time to kill Bush then when he's taking the oath of office."

"You're right, and if the man at the park talking to Stoev is with the Secret Service, he could hit him right then with no one the wiser until it was too late." Amanda nodded in agreement.

"Exactly." Lee glanced up at his boss. "So what's our next step?"

Billy glanced down at his watch. "Well, since we have to wait for the pictures to be developed, which won't be done till tomorrow," he looked back up in Amanda's direction, "I want you to take the camera down to photo processing," he looked over at Lee, "and then you can start pulling any files we have on Stoev, maybe see if you can find a connection between him and the Libyans. Once you've done that, go home and we'll meet back here at say, ten-thirty tomorrow morning. I'm going to have to fill Dr. Smyth in before then, so please try and be on time, because I won't have the tolerance level to deal with any of your shenanigans." He looked pointedly at Lee.

Amanda rose from her seat and nodded. "We will, sir." She began walking towards the office door. "I'll make sure we're here on time, that is." She then turned towards her husband. "I'll meet you in the Q-Bureau as soon as I drop this off at the lab."

Lee nodded and held the door open for her. He was just about to step out into the bullpen, when Billy's voice stopped him.

"Scarecrow, please try and remember to check in every now and then. The next time you two are off the radar, and it's not an assigned time off, you two will be getting an unpaid suspension." Billy glared at his agent. "You have no idea the scenarios that run through my head when my agents are unaccounted for during business hours. For all I knew you two could have been kidnapped or worse."

Lee tried to hide the guilt from showing on his face. "I hear you, loud and clear, Billy." He then turned and rushed to catch up with his wife. Maybe if they got their research done early enough, they could make it home in time to spend a little time with the boys. Suddenly a wicked grin spread across his face when he realized that if the research took too long, maybe they could have a repeat of their long lunch instead. He slowed his pace as the second option started looking more and more appealing. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with his stepsons, he did, but he knew he'd enjoy spending some quality time with his wife more. All sorts of erotic thoughts began to run through his mind as he thought of new ways to pleasure his wife. He sure hoped they'd find a lot of information on Stoev so that he could convince Amanda to come back to the apartment with him for a late dinner and some dessert of the sensual kind.

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Amanda strolled down the hall and nodded a greeting to the two MP guards standing outside the bullpen doors. She smiled at the young man who graciously opened the door for her and then stepped inside the bustling operations center of the Agency.

"Good morning, Amanda, and where's Lee? I hope he's not planning on skipping this meeting. I just spent the morning with Dr. Smyth, and if Lee is AWOL again, I'm giving you fair warning that he'll be spending the next two weeks somewhere that's very cold, dark and isolated." Billy finished pouring himself a cup of coffee and turned to look at the brunette, expectantly awaiting an answer.

Amanda smiled pleasantly at her boss as she started walking toward his office. "I promise you that he has a very good reason for not being here, sir. He got a call from another one of his family members. Since we're not a hundred percent sure about what's going down, and that it would be in our best interest to pursue every possible lead, we decided it made the most sense for Lee to go meet this contact alone, and I would come to the meeting with you. He said he'd get here as soon as he could."

Billy let out a sigh as he opened his office door and allowed his agent to precede him into the room. "I guess I can't argue with that one, especially since we want to make sure we have as much to go on as possible." He walked past the chair Amanda had just seated herself in and walked around his desk. Sitting down in his chair, he picked up his phone and punched in a few numbers on the base. "Francine, can you please join us in my office, now?" Receiving an affirmative response from his assistant, he placed the receiver down and then picked up a folder from his desk. "I must say, even though you and Lee couldn't get closer, the pictures you took were very clear. The photo lab blew a few of them up and, with Ernie the camera's help, we were able to identify the young man talking to Stoev."

"I thought Lee was going to be here." Francine commented as she entered. "Or did he figure out a way to get you to attend meetings for him, too?" She glanced at Amanda as she sat down in the empty chair in front of her boss' desk.

"He's out double checking another lead, Francine." Billy interjected before a verbal battle began and got them off track. "Now, as I was saying," he opened the folder and passed one of the pictures to Francine and another to Amanda, "the man talking to Anton Stoev is definitely a member of the Secret Service. His name is Steven Richmond, and according to his personnel file, he's been with the Secret Service for almost ten years. Right now he's assigned to the close personal detail of the President-Elect."

"Sir, if he's been a loyal agent for so many years, what could Stoev possibly offer him that would make him want to commit treason?" Amanda glanced at her boss briefly before looking down at the picture of the young man she now held in her hand. Although she had commented to herself yesterday that he was handsome, seeing his face even closer, she was struck by just how good looking he really was. He had the most intense ice-blue eyes and, if she wasn't already married, she had to admit that she wouldn't mind going out on a date or two with Steven Richmond.

"I don't know, but that's what we need to find out." Billy answered and then turned towards his assistant. "We've already set up a light surveillance on Richmond hoping to get some idea of what his habits and haunts are. Francine, I want you to cozy up to Richmond. We'll use the basic rules for the Peacock Dance. No need to get fancy, yet."

Francine looked up at her boss and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Billy, but I can't do it."

Billy leaned forward and glared at the blonde. "And why not?"

"I know that I've never refused a Peacock Dance assignment before," Francine sighed, "and I'm not saying I can't because I have a hot date, which I'm sure is running through your mind at the moment," she looked at her boss seriously, "but in this case, I can't because I know Richmond. I dated his brother a while back and met Steven at a family gathering. So, I wouldn't be able to use my wiles on him to seduce any information out of him. Donald, Steven's brother, did say, however, that Steven was a real player and had a thing for brunettes."

"Well, then, it looks like the little housewife gets to strut her peacock feathers instead." Dr. Smyth glanced directly at Amanda as all eyes in the room turned to look in his direction. "I see I'm just in time. I came down to tell you that the current President wants us to make this our number one priority. He's not even telling his own Secret Service about this, in case we risk tipping our hand. That means we will do whatever it takes to ensure that no one assassinates the President-Elect on my watch, got it kiddies?"

"I'm sorry, Dr. Smyth, but why me? I'm sure there are quite a few female, brunette agents who would be better qualified to seduce Steven Richmond." Amanda reached up and nervously began playing with her necklace. Although on one hand, she wouldn't mind proving to her fellow agents that she could do the job, on the other, she was a married woman, even if no one in the room knew that. From what she knew of Agency regulations, married agents did not have to take assignments that would force them to break their marriage vows.

"Because," Dr. Smyth ignored Amanda and looked directly at Billy, "I think it's time the little housewife got off the bench, don't you? She's the perfect candidate, no one would suspect little miss 'sugar and spice' of being anything but honest in her intentions." He glanced over at the brunette, "Of course, Mrs. King, if you feel you're not up to the task of protecting the life of the man who will soon be signing your paychecks, then I'd say you don't belong in the field." He glared intently at Amanda. "Do this, or find yourself chained to a desk, permanently." Without missing a beat, he glanced back towards Billy. "I want a copy of the final arrangements on my desk before the end of the day today." He then turned and walked out of Billy's office.

Amanda turned to look pleadingly at her boss as she continued to clutch her necklace. "Sir, I don't suppose there's any way out of this. It's not that I don't want to do everything I can to protect the President-Elect, but I think I'd be better doing the research end, and…well…"

Billy had a feeling that Amanda was extremely hesitant because of her partner. He knew how jealous Lee could get and he was pretty sure the brunette was dubious about being able to do what needed to be done and still keep Scarecrow from beating the man senseless. He knew Lee was a good agent, but when it came to Amanda King, his best agent seemed to forget how to do his job, especially since, no matter how hard he tried to hide it from everyone around him, Lee Stetson was very much in love with his partner. "Amanda, I think I know what you're worried about and since it seems we have no choice in this matter, I'll assign Francine to be your backup."

Francine looked at Billy and then Amanda. "And exactly who's going to tell Lee?"

"Tell me what?"

Francine and Amanda exchanged a worried glance with each other, and then, instead of looking at the man who had just entered, they both looked back at their section chief.

Billy nodded at the agent. "Ah Scarecrow, good of you to join us. Did you find out anything from your source?"

"Yes, there's definitely a plot against the President-Elect but he couldn't confirm one way or another that the Libyans were involved. All he could tell me was that there was a rumor that they were, nothing concrete though." Lee walked over to the window and leaned against it. He then folded his arms and looked from his wife, who was avoiding looking him in the eye, to his boss. "Now, would someone like to tell me what it is that no one seems to want to tell me?"

Billy took a deep breath. "We were just discussing the fact that we have an ID on the Secret Service agent. His name is Steven Richmond and it's been decided that we're going to have to do a Peacock Dance to get the information we need." He turned his attention back to Amanda. "Do you think that Richmond would recognize you?"

Amanda shook her head. "No, sir. Both Lee and I were pretty well bundled and…well, we kept our faces well hidden." Suddenly it was a little warmer in the room, and she hoped she wasn't blushing noticeably as she focused on a stack of files on her boss' desk, purposely avoiding eye contact with her husband or anyone else in the room.

Lee looked at his boss curiously. "Why do we care if this Richmond guy would recognize Amanda? It's not like she's going to be doing the…" He stopped and his eyes grew wide as he looked over at his very silent wife. "Wait just a minute, Billy," He glared at his boss, "you don't mean to tell me that you're assigning Amanda to do the Peacock Dance."

Billy nodded. "I am, and before you start to protest…"

"Billy, Amanda cannot do the Peacock Dance with this Richmond guy." Lee pushed away from the window and, walking over to his boss' desk, placed his hands on the wooden surface, daring his boss to argue with him.

Billy stood and crossed his arms across his chest. Glancing briefly at Amanda, he looked back towards Lee. "And why can't she? She's passed all her Agency classes with extremely high marks and she's proven herself time and time again that she's capable of anything. Not to mention the fact that she's ideal for the assignment. Richmond likes brunettes and, unless I'm suddenly colorblind, Amanda is a brunette, and a very attractive one at that. She's already seen him, and has been on this case from the beginning."

Amanda took a deep breath and stood. "If everyone is done talking about me like I'm not in the room…" She turned and looked at her boss. "Thank you for the high praise and compliments, sir," she then glanced in her husband's direction. "Lee, the assignments have already been given out and as far as I can tell there's no more room for discussion."

Lee looked at his wife. "Amanda, you can't seriously be saying that you're taking this assignment?"

"It's already been decided, Lee, I'm taking the assignment and this discussion is over." Amanda glared at her husband, daring him to tell their section chief exactly why she couldn't take the assignment.

"She's right, Scarecrow, it's not open for debate." Billy looked at Lee intently.

Lee ran a hand through his hair and looked from Amanda and then to his boss. "Billy, Amanda cannot take this assignment because…" he looked back at his wife, who was still looking him, daring him to spill the beans about their marriage, "because she just can't - she's my partner..."

Francine had been watching the entire exchange with extreme interest. Although she had warned her friend not to pursue a relationship with Lee, and Amanda had told her that they had broken things off, anyone watching the intensity of the emotions running across each of the partners' faces, could tell that there was more to their relationship than just a working partnership. "Lee, you don't have to worry about 'your partner' on this one, she'll be just fine. Besides I'll be working backup, I'll make sure nothing happens to her."

"What do you mean you'll be working backup!" Lee glared first at Francine and then at his boss. "Billy, I'm Amanda's partner, you have no right to take me off of this case. She and I have been working this from the start, in fact it was my family who put us onto this little plot in the first place."

Billy shook his head. "I'm not taking you off the case, Scarecrow, but you won't be working backup, you'll be handling research. Do you really think you could effectively listen to Amanda seduce Richmond and still remain objective? I for one don't think you can. There's too much at stake for us to allow anything to go wrong on this one, Lee. We have to catch this guy before we have an international incident on our hands and nothing, I mean, nothing can interfere with that."

Lee looked up towards the ceiling and took a deep breath before looking back at his section chief. "Billy, I know how to do my job, and I can separate my emotions from my job when I have to."

"Ha! That's a good one Lee. You let your emotions rule your actions more often than not lately." Amanda stood up and put her hands on her hips. "I bet you don't think I can do this assignment because you think that I won't be able to keep _my_ emotions from interfering with _my_ job?" The expression on her husband's face seemed to fuel her anger even more. It was the look he seemed to have lately when he thought something was too dangerous or something she couldn't handle and she was tired of it. All the regrets she'd been having about taking this assignment were quickly wiped away by her husband's stubbornness. "Oh sure, it's perfectly okay for you to seduce someone in the line of duty while I sit in the car and listen, but when the shoe's on the other foot, you think that you have a right to say what I can and cannot do…" She took a deep breath to keep herself from saying something she might regret later and turned her attention back to her boss. "Sir, if there's nothing else, I believe there's work to be done and I'd like to get a head start on pulling any files we have on the Secret Service."

Billy had sensed that things were quickly getting out of hand and was thankful that Amanda had taken the initiative to end it before things got way out of control. He had been avoiding telling Lee that it was really Dr. Smyth who had ordered Amanda to do the Peacock Dance because it would have only added more fuel to the already raging fire, and if Amanda hadn't changed tactics when she did, he would have had no other choice than to do just that. "I think we've covered about as much as we can for now. I was able to get in touch with a friend who works in the Office of the Secret Service and he sent me some information on Richmond and a few others that have been assigned to the President-Elect's detail. I didn't want to raise any suspicions over there and told him we were just doing a favor for the current President, double checking security. The files should've been dropped off with Mrs. Marston by now and are addressed to the Film Library. You can stop and get them from her on your way up to the Q-bureau." He glanced down at his watch and then back at his assistant. "Francine, since you have a past history with Richmond, I want you and Amanda to get together and figure out the best way to approach him. We'll reconvene here at three o'clock and go over any scenarios that the two of you have come up with."

Francine looked at Amanda. "How about we meet in about an hour, we can go grab some lunch?"

Amanda nodded. "That should give me plenty of time to review the files Mr. Melrose had sent over from the Secret Service." She glanced over at her boss. "Thank you, sir." She then turned and, without looking at her husband, headed out of the office and into the bullpen.

"Scarecrow, I want you to stay behind and tell me what exactly you found out from your family." Billy looked directly at his best agent.

Lee shook his head. "Not now, Billy." He quickly left the office and raced to catch up to his wife. He wanted to find out exactly why she had accepted this assignment.

Amanda tapped her foot and stared at the elevator doors, willing them to open. She had a feeling that Lee wasn't going to just let her walk away mad, and as she glanced back down the hallway she saw her husband angrily entering the hallway. She turned her head and glared at the doors in front of her. '_Come on, come on_.'

"Amanda, you can't seriously tell me that you're taking this assignment." Lee said through clenched teeth when he'd reached his wife. "Aside from the fact that you don't have the right kind of experience, there's the little matter of," he glanced up and down the hallway and then leaned in and whispered, "you know, your marital status."

Amanda turned and glared at her husband. "Lee, right now I'm so angry that if I even respond to that statement right here and now, I'm going to say something I'll regret later." The elevator dinged, signaling its arrival and she turned and watched the doors open. "We'll continue this conversation in the Q-Bureau where there aren't as many ears." She angrily pushed aside the coats hanging in the elevator and entered the small enclosure.

Lee was about to make a comment as he moved towards the elevator, but paused when his boss' voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Scarecrow my office, NOW!"

Amanda looked intently at her husband. "You better go, he's having a bad Dr. Smyth day, and you really don't want to cross him."

Lee took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes at his wife. "Fine, but this conversation is far from over."

Amanda watched Lee turn and head back towards the bullpen, muttering to herself as the doors closed, "Oh, you can bet this conversation isn't over. In fact we're only just getting started." She stared at the now closed doors. "Who does he think he his, trying to tell Mr. Melrose what I can and cannot do." The elevator dinged again, signaling that she had reached the main level. Stepping out of the elevator she took a deep breath and pushed her anger aside as she walked towards Mrs. Marston. "Mr. Melrose said that some files addressed to the Film Library should've been dropped off by messenger."

Mrs. Marston nodded as she handed a white envelope marked classified to Mrs. King. "Just arrived five minutes ago."

"Thank you, Mrs. Marston." Amanda accepted the parcel and turned back towards the stairs. She took the steps two at a time, anxious to get up to the solitude of her office, hoping to have a few minutes of peace before her husband arrived. Her repressed anger reared its head once more at the mere thought of Lee. '_Did he think that I didn't consider the fact that we're married when I was told I had to take this assignment? It's not like I really had a choice in the matter_.' She reached the top of the stairs and opened the door that led to the upstairs offices. '_I am so tired of waiting in the car and listening to everyone else play out scenarios with the suspects. So what if I'm married, it's not like we've told anyone. No, we decided to keep it a big old secret_.'

Stepping into the hallway, Amanda briskly made her way to her office door. Digging out her keys, she opened the door and stepped into the office. "I don't know if Mr. Melrose calling Lee back was a good thing or not," she remarked out loud as she slammed the door shut. "I am so angry right now I just want to shake my husband till some amount of sense makes its way into that feeble, arrogant, male mind of his." She made her way over to her desk and sat down with a thud. Opening the envelope marked 'Confidential' that she had collected from Mrs. Marston, she took a deep breath and tried to get her emotions under control. She had a job to do and she needed to get started on finding out everything she could on Steven Richmond before she met Francine for lunch.

Amanda pulled ten personnel files from the envelope, and quickly scanned through the names until she came upon the file marked Richmond, Steven. Opening it, she saw his ID picture and once again thought what a handsome man Steven was. '_I can do this, I know I can. He may not really be my type, but I can definitely pretend to be attracted to him, what woman in her right mind wouldn't be_.' She looked into the ice-blue eyes that stared back at her. "What would make someone like you want to assassinate the person you're supposed to be protecting?" She let out a small sigh. "I guess that's what I have to find out." She started reading the information contained in his folder and a small grin crossed her features when she came across one of his supervisor's notes: 'Has great instincts, and loves the ladies.' Just like someone else she knew, and suddenly her grin turned to a frown and she threw the folder down on the desk.

"Yes, just like someone else I know." Amanda glanced over at her husband's desk. '_Maybe I'm over-reacting. He doesn't like surprises, and since he came in at the end of the meeting, he had no idea that Dr. Smyth all but ordered me to take the assignment. Then again, he probably would have acted exactly the same way. Always trying to protect me, shelter me, keep me out of harm's way just because I'm his wife_.' She pushed her chair away from her desk. "Arghhh. I just know that his biggest issue isn't the fact that we're married. It's the fact that I'm the one who's going to be taking the risks. He's just going to use our marriage as an excuse to justify his behavior." Amanda stood up from the desk and started pacing the room. "I bet he thinks I can't do it. I bet he's thinking that I'm too much of a goody-two shoes, always playing by the rules, that I can't get another man to come on to me. I'll show him just how wrong he is…" Her rant was interrupted when she heard the doorknob of the Q Bureau being turned and as she stopped in front of her desk she watched as her husband entered, sporting a very pained expression.

Lee closed the door behind him and locked it. He didn't want any unexpected interruptions to the conversation he was about to have with his wife. Despite the fact that he didn't need Billy to remind him that Amanda was a full-time agent and perfectly capable of handling herself in any situation, it didn't change the fact that she was his wife. If they didn't have to hide that fact, then they wouldn't be having this discussion in the first place. Taking a deep breath, he had decided, before entering, that he would appeal to her sense of reasoning, and would calmly try and make her see his side of this. Moving over to where she stood, he put a gentle hand on her arm. "Amanda, you've got to see that you can't do this. It's not just that you're my wife, this guy is a member of the Secret Service. That means he probably knows all kinds of defensive and offensive moves. He could overpower you and you could find yourself way out of your league very fast. It's not as easy for a female agent to keep control of a situation like that, as it is for a male."

"Of all the chauvinistic…" Amanda shrugged his hand off of her arm and, letting out a long frustrated sigh, turned to glare at her husband. "I am perfectly capable of protecting myself, thank you, I did pass Dr. Pain's class, with flying colors I might add." She took two steps back from her husband. "And yes, I am your wife, but after that display downstairs, even if I had wanted to turn down this assignment, your behavior in front of Mr. Melrose and Francine forced my hand. I now want to prove to them and to you, that I am capable of getting the information and doing my part to stop the assassination attempt."

Any attempt at being reasonable had quickly gone out the window at his wife's cavalier attitude. "Do you want to sleep with this guy?" Lee asked as he glared at her.

Amanda looked towards the ceiling. "No, of course I don't want to sleep with him. I can't believe you'd even suggest such a thing." She looked back at her husband. "I'm going to do everything in my power not to let it get that far."

"What do you mean, 'you'll do everything in your power'?" Lee balled his hands into fists. "You're going to make damn sure that you don't have the opportunity to even let it get that far. There's no way you're even going to make it back to that guy's apartment."

"I am going to do whatever it takes to get the information." Amanda pointed towards the files on her desk. "If Steven Richmond is planning on assassinating anyone we need to find out exactly how and why and if that means that I have to go back to his apartment with him and give him some sort of knock out drug then that's exactly what I plan on doing." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Why was he being so stubborn about this? "Besides, it's not like Dr. Smyth gave me much of a choice in the matter. It was either accept the job or find myself chained to a desk, permanently. I couldn't very well say 'sorry Dr. Smyth, but I can't take the assignment because I'm married and just neglected to tell you or anyone else here at the Agency'." She eyed her husband suspiciously. "Is that what you want, me chained to a desk?"

"Of course I don't. I want you by my side." Lee let his voice soften. "But don't you see, you being married to me is exactly why you can't do this." He moved closer to his wife and tentatively reached out to take her hand in his. "Amanda, I don't want you to do this. Billy was right, I don't think I have the stomach to think about another guy touching you, kissing you. Do you have any idea how hard it is to do the Peacock Dance with someone, especially when someone you love is listening, and if you even have an inkling as to how hard that is, than you have to realize that it's twice as hard to listen to them romancing another person?"

"Yes, Lee, I know exactly how hard it is to listen to the man I love seducing another woman. Need I remind you of the little dance you did with Sonja two years ago?" Amanda watched her husband shake his head. "Which is exactly why Mr. Melrose wisely decided that you wouldn't be my backup on this one." She squeezed his hand affectionately and led him over to the couch. "I know it's not going to be easy, but I can do this. I can turn the charm on and flirt, heck, I probably won't even have to." Sitting down, she patted the seat next to her and waited till her husband was seated beside her. "You're always saying that you can't leave me alone in a room anymore, because the minute your back is turned some guy has come up to me and started a conversation. Besides, it's not the first time one of us has had to do something we didn't want to. What about Elisa Danton, or did you forget that we were married when you had to cozy up to her?"

"Amanda, that was different, you know that." Lee looked at his wife as he ran a hand through his hair. "Besides nothing happened, I've told you that a million times, she came on to me and from what you told me of your conversation in her hospital room, she confirmed that."

"That's my point, sometimes we're put into situations where we have to do something we don't want to do, but I trust you," Amanda reached out and lovingly caressed his cheek, "and I love you. I know you would never do anything to betray that trust. Now you have to trust me. I'm not going to let anything go too far."

Lee turned his head and placed a gentle kiss on her palm before reaching up and taking her hand in his. "I do trust you. It's just that we don't know much about this guy, if he's willing to take another man's life, who's to say he won't hesitate in trying to hurt you." He looked lovingly into his wife's eyes. "I just don't understand why you even want to do this in the first place. Please help me understand why, you, someone who wanted us to wait until we were married before making love for the first time, would willingly throw herself at another man, no matter what the reason."

Amanda let out another deep sigh. "I guess you weren't paying attention before when I told you that I didn't have a choice. I had to take this assignment, because if I turned it down, Dr. Smyth said he'd chain me to a desk permanently."

"Did he have Billy tell you this, or did he tell you in person." Lee took a few deep breaths to keep his anger under control.

Amanda shook her head. "No, it wasn't Mr. Melrose's idea at all. Dr. Smyth showed up right around the time Francine mentioned that she couldn't take the assignment because she has a history with Steven Richmond's brother. He basically ordered me to take the assignment and then left, in typical Dr. Smyth fashion. You missed the whole exchange by about five minutes."

Lee gritted his teeth and pounded his fist into his hand as he sprung up from the couch. "Dr. Smyth has gone too far this time, Amanda. What right does he have to order you to do something that you don't want to do? Regardless of whether or not you're married, an agent has a right to refuse any assignment. I'm going up to his office right now and I'm going to give the old man a piece of my mind."

Amanda quickly rose from her seat and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Lee, what are you going to tell him? Are you going to come right out and say that you don't want your wife participating in a Peacock Dance? Do you have any idea what'll happen if you do? You'll do the same thing that I was trying to avoid doing. We're not ready to let that cat out of the bag just yet."

Lee glared at his wife. "Fine, since I obviously don't have a say in this anymore, I'm going out to get some air." He then stormed over to the door, flicked the lock and slammed the door open.

Amanda stared at the now empty doorway and sank back down onto the couch. She knew this wasn't easy on her husband, and hopefully he'd come around, and then maybe she could find a way to calmly let him know that this whole situation wasn't easy for her, either. She was feeling a bit determined to prove to everyone she could do this, but at the same time, she knew, that no matter how it played out, she'd feel like she was cheating on her husband and that wasn't something she was at all comfortable doing. Taking a deep breath, she rose from the couch and headed over to her desk. She still had a lot of research to do, and Francine would be up here soon to discuss Steven Richmond. Sitting down at her desk, she reopened the file and tried to focus her attention on her soon-to-be Peacock partner instead of her pigheaded husband.

To Be Continued…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Lee returned to find the Q-Bureau empty. He hadn't meant to be gone that long, but he had been so frustrated that he ended up walking farther than he had planned. Before he had realized how far he had walked, he was outside Dooley's. Not quite in the mood to return to work, he had gone inside and had a beer. While he sat at the bar, nursing his drink, he had thought about the irony of the situation. Although Dooley's was a bar that Amanda had frequented with Joe, back in his college days, it was also the place that he had first realized his true feelings towards the woman who was now his wife. Seeing Amanda dancing in Joe's arms that night after the whole Estoccian mess was cleared up, had been just the wake up call he'd needed. Ironically, it seemed to be just the thing to do the trick today, as well. Walking over to his own desk, he sat down and glanced over at his wife's empty chair.

Lee knew that Amanda was downstairs in Billy's office, which was exactly how he had timed his return. He had realized on his way back to the office that this had to be just as hard on his wife, as it was on him, probably even more so. He had passed by a small flower stand on his way back to the office and an idea had popped into his head. He needed to show her that he did trust her and knew just the way to do it. He knew that Dotty was going flying with Captain Curt and that the boys would be at an extended Junior Trailblazers jamboree at the local YMCA. With the Inauguration on Friday, the schools had scheduled teacher conferences for tomorrow and Thursday and had given all the kids a five-day weekend. So, with the family already occupied, he had the perfect idea in mind. Pulling out the phone book, he quickly leafed through the pages until he found the business he was looking for. He reached over and, picking up the telephone receiver, he dialed the number and waited for someone on the other end to answer.

"Good morning, Redwood Flowers of Arlington, this is Marie, how may I help you?" Marie Jackson, proprietor of the shop answered as she picked up the phone and grabbed a pen and paper. "And you would like this delivered today? … Our drivers are actually quite familiar with that neighborhood and we can have this there by six o'clock, no problem. Will this be C.O.D or credit card? … Credit card, okay go ahead and give me the number." She jotted down the credit card number and then read it back to make sure that she hadn't missed anything. "Okay Mr. Stetson, we'll have this taken care of, just as you asked. Thank you for your business." She hung up the phone and moved over to the shelf to choose the perfect vase to put the flower arrangement in.

In no time at all Marie found the perfect one. It was simple, yet had delicate hearts etched into the glass. From what Mr. Stetson had asked for, and based on the poem, she knew that this particular customer was looking to impress his lady. Since the flowers were going to a house she had sent many flowers to in the last few years, she didn't mind putting a little extra effort into this particular arrangement. With the vase chosen, she moved over to the flower encasement and carefully picked out only the most perfect, half open long-stem red roses she could find. With a dozen expertly chosen, she moved back over to the counter with the vase and began placing the blossoms inside.

Marie then added some baby's breath and a few mini roses to give it just that added extra something. Taking a step back, she inspected her work and smiled. Yes this was going to definitely one of her best works. With the arrangement complete, she moved over and picked a small card with two little hearts in the corner and began writing out the message Mr. Stetson had asked to be put on the card. With that all accomplished she put the card in its matching envelope and was about to address the envelope when the telephone rang again.

Marie quickly moved over to the phone and picked it up. Her forehead creased into a frown as she listened to her mother on the other end, apparently there was a crisis at home. "Okay, I'll be home as soon as I can." She hung up the phone and looked around for her assistant. "Julie," she called out, "where are you?"

Julie, a young blonde girl in her first year of college, poked her head through the doorway leading to the back room. "I'm right here, Marie. What's up?"

"I need to run home and can't finish getting the last few arrangements ready for the afternoon pickup." Marie moved towards her office to grab her coat. "I need you to get everything ready for me, can you do that?"

"No problem. Just let me know what else needs to be done." Julie wiped her hands on a nearby towel, and moved towards the counter laden with the latest arrangements.

"That one is my last one." Marie returned with her coat on and pointed to the vase of roses she had just finished. "Everything's ready, I just need you to put the address on it. It's for the lady of the house, and the address is listed in my address book under West, Dotty. Just put West-King on the envelope." She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. "Thank you so much Julie, I should be back in time to lock up, if not, you know how to do it. I owe you big time." Waving, she stepped outside and headed for her car.

Julie looked at the arrangement and smiled. "Marie really outdid herself on this one." She then moved over to the counter and grabbing the phone book, she turned the pages till she found the address her boss had indicated. She began filling out the card when the phone rang. "Redwood Florist of Arlington, this is Julie." She moved over and grabbed a pen and paper and began writing down the order. She looked up briefly when Jason, the delivery boy walked into the shop. "Can you please hold a second," she asked the customer, who replied in the affirmative. She then put the call on hold and nodded to Jason. "There are three arrangements by the door ready to go and then this one. Give me a minute to finish the address and it's all yours."

Jason smiled. "I'll bring the others to my car and come back for that one."

"Great, thanks." Julie moved over, quickly finished filling out the envelope and placed it in the little plastic holder before picking up the phone and taking the caller off hold. "Okay thank you for holding."

Jason came back in and went to take the arrangement of roses, but stopped when he noticed that the name of the recipient wasn't on the envelope. "Pssst." He waited till Julie was looking at him. "There's no name on here, just an address."

Julie nodded and quickly took the envelope and wrote down Mrs. West and then went back to paying attention to the caller on the phone.

Jason put the envelope back on the little plastic stand and headed out the door with the arrangement in hand.

_SMK SMK SMK_

Dotty opened the back door and, after entering the house, she dropped her bags unceremoniously on the floor and slammed the door shut behind her. Shrugging out of her coat, she made her way towards the front of the house. "How dare he leave me standing outside his apartment for the last hour." Stepping up onto the landing she headed over to the hall closet. "He had better have a very good reason for standing me up." She opened the closet door and pulled out a hangar. She had just finished hanging her coat on the metal holder when the doorbell rang. Putting her coat into the closet, she headed for the front door.

Dotty took a deep breath to calm her nerves and, putting on her best friendly smile, she opened the door and came face-to-face with a young delivery boy.

"Flowers for Mrs. West."

Dotty accepted the flowers and smiled. "Why thank you young man."

"My pleasure, enjoy." Jason nodded as he turned and headed back down the walk towards his car.

Dotty shut the door and took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet scent of the roses. "I wonder who could be sending me flowers. I'm not even supposed to be home." A smile crossed her lips, and she hurriedly made her way to the kitchen. "I wonder if they're from Curt, apologizing for standing me up." She put the vase of roses on the counter and pulled out the card.

_My Pretty Lady, _

_Please meet me at eight and allow me to grovel and apologize for my recent behavior. _

_As to the place I wish you to meet me, use your exceptional talents to decipher the following riddle to find out where we'll rendezvous._

_My first starts the light that warms me when you are around._

_My second is the beverage that you like to drink._

_My third is the first in the French for what I feel for you._

_My fourth is the first in the description of your smile._

_My whole is a shimmering celestial body in the language of love._

Dotty smiled as she read the card again. "My, my Curt, I didn't know you could be such a romantic. And it's a riddle too, he knows how much I love word puzzles." She reread the card again and scratched her head. "Now to figure out where the devil you're asking me to meet you." Putting the card down, she moved over to the sink and, pulling out the drawer grabbed a pen and paper. Closing the drawer she moved back to the counter and sat down, ready to figure out where she would be going this evening.

Dotty picked up the card and read the first line out loud. "My first starts the light that warms me…well that means it's the first letter of a light that warms." She tapped the pencil against her cheek. "Well the only light that I know of that warms is the sun, so it has to begin with an 'S'." She jotted that down on the paper and then moved to the next line. "My second is the beverage that you like to drink." She looked around the kitchen. "This one's not going to be easy. I like tea, milk with a touch of Galliano at bedtime, and I drink a lot of hot chocolate. So the second letter could be a 'T', 'G', 'M' or 'C'. That's not much help." She wrote all four letters down and then moved to the third line. "My third is the first in the French for what I feel for you." She scrunched up her nose and tapped the pen to her cheek again. "I didn't know Curt knew French. The man is just so full of surprises. Now, where is that old French Dictionary my husband used to have?"

Dotty jumped off the stool, and walked over to the bookcase. She scanned all the shelves and finally came across the book she was looking for. Reaching up, she took it down off the shelf and carried it back into the kitchen. Sitting back down on the stool, she reread the line. "I wonder if this is a riddle within a riddle. I mean I know how I feel about him, I like Curt, a lot, and I guess you could say I love him, not in the way I loved Frank. Oh goodness I'm talking to myself. Okay, back to the riddle, well I wonder if he feels the same way about me as I do about him. Since I'm not sure, I'll just start with like." She turned the pages of the dictionary until she came to 'like'. "In French, like is aimer. Hmm… I wonder." She skimmed the pages until she found the French word for love. "Well isn't that interesting, aimer is love too. Okay so the third letter is definitely an 'A'." She jotted that down on her paper and then reread the fourth line. "The fourth is the first in the description of your smile. Well that could be anything. Sometimes my smile is big, happy, jolly, even wide. I'll have to come back to that one."

Dotty picked up her paper and looked over her notes. "Well I definitely have an 'S' and an 'A', maybe that's enough to figure out what the word is. The whole word has to do with a shimmering celestial body in the language of love. Well the language of love is French so wherever I'm supposed to meet Curt is French. Let's see, celestial bodies, well that could be the sun, moon, stars or even a planet. I know the riddle is a four letter word, so other than Mars, no other planet fits into this, and neither the moon nor Mars starts with an 'S' so there out. Sun is three letters, so that's out. The only other possibility is star. I have a possible 'T' for the second letter so that fits. Hmm…. 'R' I wonder if he meant radiant. Curt thinks I have a radiant smile, oh how sweet. Okay, now to figure out where he wants me to meet him." She picked up the French dictionary and scanned the pages till she came to the French word for star. "Etoile. That's it. There's a wonderful new, very extravagant restaurant that just opened up in Alexandria called l'Etoile."

Dotty leaned over and smelled the roses one more time. "Oh, Curt, if this is your way of making it up to me for standing me up earlier, you're totally forgiven." She glanced over at the clock on the counter and let out a gasp. "If I want to make it to Alexandria by eight, I need to get ready now." She put the card into the plastic holder nestled within the flowers. She gave one last longing look at the flowers, melting away any remaining feelings of anger she might have had and turning, she made her way towards the stairs, eager to get ready for what she hoped was going to be a truly magical evening.

_SMK SMK SMK_

The Maitre d' of 'l'Etoile' smiled at the elegantly dressed customers patiently waiting for their tables to be ready. He had just returned from seating a very nice young couple, so obviously in love and was about to look down at his seating chart, when his eyes fell on the attractive, middle-aged blonde woman. He knew that she had been sitting there for quite some time. He had approached her shortly after she had arrived, asking her if he could assist her. She had very politely told him that she had arrived early, and was just waiting for her gentlemen friend. He had offered to seat her at their table, and she had said she'd wait until eight, when her date was expected to arrive. When eight o'clock had arrived, he had approached her again, and suggested that he seat her with the promise that he would show her friend to their table upon his arrival. Unfortunately, after checking the list for her date's name and not finding a reservation, he had checked under hers but had still found nothing. With a slightly embarrassed expression, she had apologized and thanked him for being so kind. She had then gone back to her seat in the waiting area, to await the arrival of her date. He watched her now, glancing at her watch and tapping her foot impatiently, and he fervently hoped that the kind Mrs. West hadn't been stood up.

Dotty glanced at her watch for what seemed to be the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. She tried not to think about the fact that he was fifteen minutes late, after all, this was Alexandria and parking wasn't the easiest. Since Amanda had the car, she had taken a cab so finding a place to park wasn't something she'd had to worry about. However, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to the events of earlier. She was supposed to have met Curt at his apartment and they were due to head over to the airport to get some flying in. In fact, Curt had told her that they were going to be flying to a remote location, the whereabouts of which he had steadfastly refused to convey. She had waited for him outside his place for what seemed like an eternity, getting colder by the minute. The doorman was new and refused to even let her sit inside, which had only made her angrier at her predicament. Finally, after an hour had passed, she had finally given up and flagged a cab down and returned home. Now, sitting here, waiting for him to arrive again, although she was in a much warmer atmosphere, she couldn't help but wonder if she'd been stood up once more.

Dotty quickly dismissed that idea, having known Curt for over two years now, he wasn't the type of person to do anything deliberately mean or unkind. Suddenly, she let out a small gasp as another thought ran through her mind, what if he was hurt? If that were true, then it would certainly explain his absence. Then again, if he was hurt, who had sent her the roses? Shaking her head, she decided it was time to get some answers. Rising from her seat, she was just about to head over to the Maitre d' and ask him if she could use a phone to make some inquiries when the door to the restaurant opened. She turned, expectantly, hoping that Curt was finally arriving, and her eyes grew wide in shock as she saw her daughter's boyfriend enter. "Lee?"

Lee blew on his cold hands as he entered the very elegant restaurant. He had just walked five blocks in the cold, having had to drive around for what seemed like forever to find a spot suitable for his Corvette. Hoping to find his wife waiting for him, he was slightly taken aback to see his mother-in-law standing in the waiting area. "Dotty?"

"Imagine running into you here. I guess you and Curt had the same idea." Dotty craned her neck looking for any sign of her daughter. "Where's Amanda, or is she meeting you here?"

"I'm a little late, I was hoping she'd be here already. I'm guessing that since you're asking about her whereabouts, she's obviously not here yet." Lee rubbed his hands together, trying to bring some warmth back into them. "I take it you're meeting Captain Curt."

Dotty nodded. "I'm supposed to be anyway. I was just getting ready to ask the Maitre d' if I could use the phone, it's not like Curt to leave me waiting twice."

Lee looked at his mother-in-law curiously. "Twice?"

"Yes, we had plans to meet up this afternoon. I'm sure Amanda told you that I was going to be away with Curt for a few days." Dotty watched Lee nod and noticed him still rubbing his hands together. "Oh, let's get you away from the door, Lee." She pulled him into the restaurant a little more. "Anyway, I waited for him at his apartment, but he never showed, then when I got home, I received the most beautiful bouquet of roses and a very romantic dinner invitation to this restaurant. I figured it was his way of apologizing for standing me up earlier. However, I've been waiting here for over half an hour and the Maitre d' can't find a reservation under the name Weller or West, so I don't know what to think."

"Um, Dotty," Lee interjected when she stopped to take a breath. As he had been listening to his mother-in-law's rambling, a feeling of guilt had begun to wash over him. "I don't know how to tell you this, other than to just come out and say it." He nervously ran a hand through his hair. "I'm afraid those flowers weren't from Curt, and they weren't for you." He let out a deep breath as he gave Dotty a sympathetic smile. "I sent those flowers and the card to Amanda. We had a bit of an argument and I was being a real jerk, and thought that I'd try and make things up to her with a romantic dinner."

Dotty put her head into her hands as the full realization hit her. "Oh, I feel like such a fool." Suddenly she remembered something and looked up at Lee, a curious expression on her face. "Wait a minute I'm really confused, the delivery boy said the flowers were for me."

Lee shrugged apologetically. "I don't know what to tell you, Dotty. I guess the florist must have made a mistake. I had asked that the flowers be addressed to the lady of the house. I figured that would be okay, since Amanda had told me that you were going to be away. I'm guessing that, since the florist said they delivered to your neighborhood a lot, she probably recognized the address and figured they were for you." He reached out and affectionately laid a hand on her shoulder. "I feel so bad about this, how about you join me for dinner, well us, that is if Amanda arrives at all. I'm beginning to wonder if she'll even know the flowers are for her, since you said they were addressed to you. Anyway, if she does show up, I'll just have the waiter bring another place setting to the table."

Dotty shook her head. "I couldn't do that, impose on your evening like that…"

"Nonsense, you're here," Lee interrupted his mother-in-law and flashed her his dimpled smile, "all dressed up and looking extremely beautiful, I might add, because of me." He looked at her pleadingly. "Please, I insist."

Dotty looked at her daughter's very handsome boyfriend. "Well when you put it that way, I'd love to join you for dinner." She offered him her arm. "Now I know why my daughter loves you so much. You're a real charmer, aren't you?"

Lee winked at her as he linked her arm through his and made his way towards the Maitre d'. "I have a reservation, under the name Vanderhousen."

"Vanderhousen?" Dotty glanced at Lee a quizzical expression on her face.

Lee smiled and shrugged. "Let's just say that the name has sentimental value."

"Ah, here it is." The Maitre d' pointed to the name on the list, he then looked up and smiled at the blonde woman. "I see your date finally showed up, I'm so glad Mrs. West, I was afraid that you'd been stood up."

"Actually," Dotty chuckled a little self-consciously. "Turns out there was a small mix-up and this wonderful young man, was supposed to be meeting my daughter."

"Well, it looks like you'll still get to enjoy the exquisite cuisine our establishment has to offer." The Maitre d' grabbed two menus and turned towards the dining room. "If you'll follow me I'll show you to your table."

_SMK SMK SMK_

Amanda glanced at her watch as she hurried down the sidewalk. An hour late. She hated to be late, not that it was her fault. The meeting with Francine and Mr. Melrose had run longer than she had expected. Then, she had gotten stuck in horrendous traffic on the way home. The flowers had been a welcome surprise and had brought a smile to her face. She had run upstairs and changed, and was out the door just as eight o'clock had rolled around. Thinking that she would only be about fifteen minutes late, was her first mistake. Never tempt the hand of fate by expecting to be anywhere within reason, at least not when you would need to travel the Capitol Beltway to get anywhere. Then to top it all off, she had had an almost impossible time finding a place to park. Reaching the entrance to l'Etoile, she took a deep breath and prayed that Lee would still be inside waiting for her and hadn't left, thinking that she was still annoyed with him for his earlier behavior, and therefore standing him up.

Amanda pulled the door open and stepping inside, scanned the waiting area, looking for her husband. Not seeing him, she approached the Maitre d'. "I was wondering if you could tell me if a Lee Stetson has already arrived. He would have had reservations for eight, and I'm already an hour late. I was hoping that maybe you had already seated him."

The Maitre d' smiled. "Let me just take a look." He scanned his list and his smile faded as he looked back up at the elegant brunette. "I'm sorry, but there isn't a reservation under that name."

"Would you mind checking under King?" Amanda asked. "He may have put it under my name just in case I arrived before him, which obviously wasn't the case."

The Maitre d' shook his head. "Sorry, nothing under King either."

Amanda frowned. "I sure hope I got the riddle right." She looked behind the Maitre d' and noticed the bar. "Would it be okay if I went and checked the bar, perhaps when he didn't see me he decided to wait for me in there."

"Please, be my guest." The Maitre d' smiled and waved her back towards the bar.

Amanda smiled as she passed the man. Entering the dimly lit room, she took notice of the few tables set aside for customers who didn't want to wait in the seating area for their table. She somehow didn't picture her husband waiting at one of those, and glanced over in the direction of the stools that aligned the black marble counter. However, as she let her gaze fall on several men sitting alone at the bar, she realized that none of them matched her husband's familiar silhouette. Sighing, she walked over to the black counter and signaled to the bartender. "Do you have a phone I could use? I was supposed to meet someone, but it appears that they left before I got here, not that I blame him, I am an hour late."

The bartender smiled at this charming brunette. "I usually tell customers that there's a pay phone near the restrooms, but for a beautiful lady like you, I think I can make an exception." He reached below the bar and, pulling out the phone, placed it on the counter.

"Thank you so much." Amanda smiled pleasantly as she picked up the receiver and dialed the familiar number. When the answering machine picked up, she sighed, realizing that Lee probably hadn't arrived home. "Hi, it's me. I'm sorry we missed each other, I'm at the restaurant now, and I'm guessing that you're probably on your way home. Anyway, I'm going to head over to your place as soon as I hang up. I'll see you soon."

As Amanda placed the receiver back on the base, she had the strangest feeling that she was being watched and turned, hoping to see her husband's familiar hazel eyes. Instead, she locked eyes with a pair of very intense ice-blue eyes that sent a small shudder up and down her spine. She tried to keep any trace of recognition from her expression and politely smiled at the man she knew was Steven Richmond.

Steven Richmond prided himself on being a charmer, and someone who enjoyed making pretty ladies weak at the knees. So, it wasn't the least bit surprising that he had noticed the brunette, who was now standing next to him, the minute she had entered the restaurant. Unfortunately, since most people who came to l'Etoile came with someone or were meeting their significant other here, he hadn't had much hope of hooking up with this beautiful creature. However, after hearing that she'd been stood up, his dashed hopes quickly rose and he put on his most debonair smile. "I couldn't help but overhear that you've been stood up. I don't suppose I could interest you in joining me for a quick drink."

Knowing that this man was her assignment and realizing that an opportunity, better than any scenario that she and Francine had come up with, had just dropped itself in her lap, Amanda wasn't about to turn him down. However, she also knew that he had overheard her message and that she was planning on leaving, so she didn't want to seem too eager. "Oh, that really is sweet, but I really should get going. If my date gets home and hears my message, I know he'll start to wonder what's keeping me." She smiled innocently at the blond man.

Steven moved over and sat on the stool directly next to where she was standing. "Please, I insist. If I had a beautiful woman like you meeting me at an elegant restaurant like this, there's no way I would leave until you arrived. Besides, he may have stepped into the men's room. Wouldn't it be in your best interest to wait and make sure he doesn't come back?"

Amanda couldn't argue with that logic, especially since it could very likely be true. "I guess I can't argue with that." She sat down on the stool in front of her. "But only one drink."

"Wonderful," Steven signaled for the bartender. "Now what would an elegant woman like yourself wish to drink?"

Despite her best intentions, Amanda felt herself blush at his compliment. "Just a white wine, thank you."

"One white wine for the lady, Matthew," Steven said to the bartender. "And if you don't mind, I'd like a refill on my drink as well."

"No problem Steven. One white wine coming up, and a refill on your gin and tonic." Matthew nodded politely before moving down the bar to take down a wine glass.

Steven watched his friend briefly before turning back towards the brunette beside him. "I bet you're wondering why I seem to be on a first name basis with the bartender, aren't you?"

"Actually, Steven, it had crossed my mind." Amanda responded and gave him a smile that she hoped appeared warm and inviting. "Especially since it doesn't seem that an elegant restaurant like this would get too many regulars."

"Well, let me put your curiosity to rest. You see a friend of mine owns this place," Steven gestured around the room. "So I come in here on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, if I don't have any other plans, since they're my only two nights off. He doesn't mind, especially since I entertain Matthew with stories of my escapades at work when it's slow, and in exchange, I get my drinks for free. Since I live only a few blocks from here, it's the perfect arrangement." He took the drinks from Matthew when the bartender returned. "Now, I do believe you have me at a slight disadvantage. Since Matthew provided you with my name, I think it's only polite that you tell me yours." He handed her the wine glass.

"I guess that would be the only proper thing to do, after all you are treating me to a free drink." Amanda chuckled again. "Even if you aren't paying for it." She extended her hand. "Amanda West, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Steven…"

"Steven Richmond." Steve accepted her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a tender kiss on the delicate skin.

Amanda fought the urge to rip her hand from his and instead gazed into his eyes. It was then that she noticed something she hadn't noticed before. For a brief moment, she felt like she was looking into his soul and she caught the shadow of something almost imperceptible. She couldn't help but wonder if it was guilt that she saw there. Knowing what the man sitting next to her was planning on doing, if he was feeling even a glimmer of guilt, that would mean that he wasn't a willing participant in this assassination attempt. Clearing her throat, she smiled shyly at her companion. "So, Steven Richmond, what is it that you do, that only allows you two nights off in the middle of the week?"

"I work in security." Steven smiled as he let his thumb rub circles on her hand. This was working much better than he had anticipated. With Amanda's hand in his, he kept thinking that if he could only convince this beautiful woman to come back to his apartment and help him forget all about the job he was being forced to do on Friday, he might die a happy man. The pleasant thoughts of what he would like to do to Amanda were quickly dashed when he felt her tear her hand from his grasp.

Amanda had immediately ripped her hand from Steven's when she felt a tap on her shoulder and, instinctively knew who it was from the feeling of electricity that ran through her body at his familiar touch. Turning, she came face-to-face with a very angry pair of hazel eyes.

To Be Continued…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Lee took a few deep breaths and tried to calm the rage that had been building in him since the moment he had caught sight of his wife openly flirting with the blond man at the bar. He was just thankful that his mother-in-law hadn't seen Amanda with this guy. That would have taken more explaining than he would have been able to do, especially since he hadn't recognized the man until after he had stepped into the bar. He had walked Dotty out and hailed her a cab all the while keeping his jealousy and anger in check. One good thing about being an agent, he was able to quickly compartmentalize his emotions when the need arose.

After making sure Dotty was safely inside the cab, he had passed the cab driver a fifty and told the man to take his mother-in-law home. Although Dotty had started to protest, he had insisted. Truthfully, he didn't want Dotty to realize that she didn't have enough for the cab ride and come back inside the restaurant. He had then immediately reentered the restaurant and made a beeline to the bar. The first thing he had noticed was Amanda's hand being held and caressed by the blond man. It wasn't until he got a closer look that he realized who the blond man was and his anger started to subside. However, as realization dawned that his wife had initiated the Peacock Dance without any backup, his anger had quickly risen again. Without further hesitation, he approached his wife and gently tapped her on the shoulder.

Amanda turned and met her husband's gaze. "Lee? I thought you'd left already." With her hands in her lap, she subtly tried to wipe away the feeling of Steven's hand from hers.

"I can see that." Lee glanced at his watch. "You were supposed to meet me here an hour and a half ago." He looked back at his wife nodding subtly, letting her know that he was willing to play along. "Exactly how long have you been here, or have you been here all along and just decided that you'd rather spend time in the company of a stranger." His voice grew a little louder.

Although his eyes held a hint of jealousy, Amanda knew from the tone of her husband's voice that he was more angry than jealous. There was a quality in his tone when he was really jealous, and this wasn't one of those times. However, the small amount of anger that his words were laced with, was a clear indication that a long discussion about her being here, alone, with Richmond was definitely going to take place later. "I've only been here for about twenty minutes. When I got here the Maitre d' couldn't find a reservation under your name, so after calling your apartment, I was getting ready to head over there when I decided that it might not be a bad idea to wait a few minutes just to make sure we didn't miss each other." She looked around the room and noticed a few of the couples intently watching them. "I think we should take this discussion outside, don't you?"

Lee nodded reluctantly. "Fine, but once we're outside, we _will_ continue this discussion." He then headed towards the front of the restaurant.

Amanda turned and smiled apologetically at Steven. "Thank you for the wine. It was nice to have made your acquaintance."

Steven stood. "The pleasure was all mine. Maybe we'll meet again."

Amanda shrugged. "Maybe." She then turned and followed her husband out of the bar and out of the restaurant. Once out on the sidewalk, she approached her husband ready to do battle.

Lee took a deep breath and pointed towards the restaurant's entrance. "What the hell did you think you were doing? You know better than to initiate any kind of meet with a suspect without backup."

Amanda turned to face her husband, at the same time keeping an eye on the entrance. "I didn't technically approach him, he approached me. I didn't see him sitting at the bar. I was too busy looking for you. It wasn't until I was off the phone that I even saw him." She placed her hands on her hips. "Regardless of who approached whom, I wasn't about to waste a perfect opportunity."

Lee crossed his arms in front of him. "That doesn't change the fact that we don't know anything about this guy."

Amanda shook her head and interrupted him. "That's not true, Lee. Francine used to date his brother, and therefore met Steven on several occasions. So I know a little bit about him. He may be a womanizer, but he's not the violent type. Besides, I was perfectly safe. I was in a public restaurant, which wasn't exactly empty. There were plenty of people around, including you. Where the devil where you hiding, anyway? I looked all around the bar and didn't see you. And I wasn't lying when I said that I checked in with the Maitre d', who by the way, didn't have a reservation under your name or mine."

Lee shrugged. "That's because I was trying to be romantic and used the name Vanderhousen."

"Really?" Amanda smiled in surprise. "That was very sweet, Lee, but that still doesn't answer my question: if you weren't in the bar, then where were you?"

"It's not like I was hiding or anything. When I got here, I ran into your mother. Apparently there was a mix up at the florist and she thought the roses I sent you were for her, so she came here expecting to meet Captain Curt." Lee ran a hand through his hair. "So I figured that you probably didn't get the flowers or would get home and come to the same conclusion as she did, so I decided to treat Dotty to a nice dinner."

Amanda let out a frustrated sigh. "So I guess that means you've already eaten and I'm out a nice romantic dinner with my husband." Just then she saw the restaurant door open and watched as Steven stepped out onto the sidewalk and she quickly put her hands back on her hips. "You had dinner with another woman. How dare you?" She glared at her husband. "I got stuck in traffic, and you should know that no matter how angry I was with you, I would never stand you up. I guess we don't know each other as well as I thought we did."

Lee gave his wife a confused stare. "Amanda, you can't seriously be mad because I had dinner with…" Suddenly he noticed the direction his wife's eyes had moved to. Catching sight of Richmond standing just outside the door, he realized why she had suddenly changed her tone. "Wait just a minute, why the hell are you getting mad at me? You're the one who decided to pick up the first guy you saw. I had a harmless dinner with an old friend."

"Another woman, Lee, it was another woman, who you treated to a romantic dinner at a very extravagant French restaurant." Amanda clenched her teeth and made the motion of pretending to wipe a tear or two from her eyes. "And I didn't pick Steven up. I had just called your apartment to tell you that I was heading over there because I didn't think you were still at the restaurant and Steven offered to buy me a drink. Looks like I made the right choice since I would have gotten back to your apartment only to find it empty and who knows how long I would have waited for you. You probably would have gone back to Dotty's place."

"Well if that's the what think of me, then fine. I thought we'd gotten past your insecurities, but I guess we haven't. I'm done with this. I can't keep having the same argument with you over and over." Lee turned to leave. "Goodbye, Amanda." He waved his hand in the air as he headed off towards his car. He walked quickly and turned down the first street he came to. Then, just as quickly, he turned back around and cautiously peaked back around the corner, to keep an eye on his wife.

"Lee!" Amanda called after her husband. Although it had all been an act, his words had still stung ever so slightly, and a few real tears trickled down her cheek. "Damn it, I hate when he storms off like that, always getting the last word." She wiped the salty drops from her face with the back of her hand. "Well if that's the way he wants it…" She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and turning, gazed once more into Steven's blue eyes. "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to know that you don't deserve a guy like that." Steven pointed in the direction Lee had just gone. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to eavesdrop, but when I came out here and heard how heated the discussion was, I wanted to make sure that you were going to be all right."

Amanda smiled tentatively at the blond man. "Thank you, that was very nice of you."

"Nonsense, just being a gentleman." Steven watched as Amanda shivered. "Look it's cold out, can I call you a cab, or maybe offer you a nice hot drink. My apartment's not very far."

Amanda shook her head. "Thank you, but that's not really necessary, I managed to find a parking spot a few blocks down." She pointed down the road in the direction of her car. She was thankful that her car was parked in the opposite direction that her husband had just gone, especially since she was pretty sure that he was lurking around the next corner, keeping an eye on her and she really didn't want Steven to catch Lee watching them.

"Well then, can I at least escort you to your car. I wouldn't want to worry that something might have happened to you on your way there." Steven looked at the brunette pleadingly.

"Thank you, I'd like that." Amanda fought the urge to tell this man no, that she was married and that she shouldn't be doing this, that it was all a lie, but knew she couldn't; a man's life, a very important man's life, was at stake. So instead, she began walking towards her car and in order to keep him from getting too friendly, she stuck her hands in her pockets under the pretense of keeping them warm.

"I hope you don't have a long drive ahead of you." Steven glanced over at the brunette beside him as they walked along the sidewalk.

"I only live about ten minutes from here, so unless I hit traffic, which I shouldn't this late at night, I'll be home in no time." Amanda kept her answer as vague as possible. Since she knew Steven worked for the government, she realized that that probably meant that he had certain connections and the last thing she needed was for him to try and track her down. Taking a deep breath she fought the urge to look behind her, knowing that her husband was probably following them at a distance. Instead she kept her eyes straight ahead, searching for her car.

Steven watched as the streetlights illuminated the lighter brown natural highlights of his companion's hair. "Amanda, I hope I don't sound too presumptuous, but I couldn't help but notice that your boyfriend not only walked away from you, but he also sounded like he was ending things." He smiled sincerely when her brown eyes looked in his direction. "Since you didn't get a chance to experience the wonderful cuisine at l'Etoile, I was hoping you'd consider joining me for dinner tomorrow night."

"Oh, I don't know. I really should try and work things out with Lee. He gets a little hot under the collar sometimes." Amanda tried not to laugh at the truth to those words. "But, once he cools down…"

"It sounded pretty final to me." Reaching the end of the block, Steven looked both ways to ensure that no cars were coming, and then walked alongside Amanda as they crossed the street. "Look, I understand your reluctance, but it's my last night off until…well for probably a very long time, and I'd really like to spend it in the company of a beautiful woman, rather than alone."

"My car's just over there." Amanda pointed to her Wagoneer parked two spots up. She was using a stall tactic, and wanted to delay answering him as much as possible, especially since she didn't want to sound too eager, and also because the answer she really wanted to give him was that there was no way she'd go out with him, that she was happily married and not available. Unfortunately she knew that Dr. Smyth would probably end up firing her if he found out, so instead she looked over at Steven and sighed. "Let me think about it, okay?"

Steven nodded. "I guess I'll have to accept that." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small card. "Here's my number."

Amanda accepted the card and tried not to roll her eyes. Francine wasn't kidding when she said he was a ladies' man, the man had his number pre-printed on a business card. "I promise to call you if I change my mind." She walked around the back of her car, and headed for the driver's door. "Thank you so much for escorting me back to my car, Steven." She turned to find him staring at her intently.

Steven reached out and lightly fingered a stray curl that had fallen on her shoulder. "I really hope you change your mind." He twirled the few strands of hair in his finger, relishing its softness.

Amanda turned and unlocked her door. Reaching for the handle, she quickly opened it. "Thank you again for everything, Steven." She said as she slid down into her seat, eager to get away from this man whose touch was making her ill.

"It was my pleasure, Amanda." Steven reached over and began closing her door. "Until we meet again." He closed her door and watched as she smiled at him. He really hoped that she would change her mind, she was just the type of woman that he could lose himself in. Stepping back from the car, he made his way back over to the curb and watched as she pulled out onto the street.

Amanda glanced back in her rearview mirror and watched Steven walking down the sidewalk, most likely heading for home. She let out a long sad sigh. Steven seemed like a very nice man, but he wasn't her husband, and right now she longed to feel her husband's arms around her, telling her that everything was okay, and that this was just one horribly bad dream. Not wanting to go to home and to bed until she'd been wrapped in Lee's loving embrace, effectively wiping away the memory of Steven's touch, she steered her car in the direction of her husband's Georgetown apartment.

_SMK SMK SMK_

Lee stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway towards his apartment. He knew his wife was waiting for him inside, since her car was parked out on the street in front of the building. He hadn't been sure that she would have come here after their staged argument, no matter how much he had hoped she would. However, once he had seen her car parked out front, he had breathed a sigh of relief and hurried into his apartment building eager to hold his wife. Reaching his apartment door, he put the key in the lock and turned it. Upon entering his apartment, he immediately spotted his wife, sitting on the couch, staring intently at a shot glass of scotch, which currently sat untouched on the coffee table. If his wife was contemplating drinking anything that strong, he knew that this evening's events were not sitting well with her at all.

Lee closed and locked the door and, after placing his keys in the little tray by the door, he moved over to the couch. Sitting down, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him. "It's going to be all right, Amanda."

Amanda leaned into her husband's arms, but never took her eyes off the glass of scotch. "You have no idea how badly I want to drink that."

Lee placed a gentle kiss in her hair and, removing his arm from around her shoulder, leaned forward and moved the glass out of her line of sight. "I'm sure you do, but that isn't you, Amanda. You don't drown your sorrows in alcohol, that's what I do." He turned on the couch to face her. "Or used to do that is, until you came into my life and taught me that alcohol doesn't solve anything, that talking about what's bothering you is what really works." He took her hand in his and, bringing it to his lips, placed a tender kiss on her palm. "So talk to me, Amanda."

Amanda turned to look at him, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "You were right, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Even if we weren't married, or even involved for that matter, I wouldn't feel right leading another man on like that."

Lee reached up with his free hand and lovingly wiped way a tear that had started to fall down his wife's cheek. "That's one of the many things I love about you, the fact that you care about other people's feelings, no matter what the situation. You always manage to find the little bit of good in even the worst type of person." He ran his hand tenderly down her cheek. "I hope you never lose that. In this case, however, it might help you to focus on the fact that Richmond, a man who took an oath to protect and serve this country, is planning to break that oath, and take another man's life willingly."

"I know, but it still doesn't make it easier for me to let him touch me, and look at me as if he can see right though my clothing." Amanda squeezed her husband's hand. "Back before I met Joe I hated going out with my girlfriends to bars purely because I felt that the men would be undressing me with their eyes. It always made me feel dirty." She looked down at their entwined fingers. "Even knowing that I have no choice in this whole thing, it still makes me feel cheap and that I'm going against everything I believe in."

Lee leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead, then tilted her head up to look at his. "Well you just need to keep reminding yourself that you're doing a job, that you're not cheap or dirty, and it's not real, it's an act. I know you loved to act in college, so just pretend you're playing the lead in a play, one where you get to write the script."

Amanda's eyes were filled with love as she leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her husband's lips. "I love you. Thank you for always being able to find the silver lining."

"Hey," Lee smiled at her letting his dimples show, "that's what a husband is for. Now, despite the more unpleasant aspect of what happened tonight, did you happen to get anything useful from Richmond?"

"Nothing that we didn't already know. He told me he works in security and that he has Tuesday and Wednesday nights free." Amanda leaned back against the sofa, letting her head fall on the top of the cushions. "Our little argument was very convincing." She turned her head to look at her husband. "He definitely believed you were saying goodbye to me like you never planned on seeing me again."

"You know I didn't mean that right?" Lee watched as his wife nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. "Good, because I hated saying it. I'm just glad that I picked up on your subtle hints before it was too late. There was no way we would have been able to pull that one off if I'd finished my comment." Lee let out a small chuckle. "No one in their right mind would have believed that you'd be jealous of your own mother."

"That's true." Amanda sighed. "I guess we also changed the game a little, too. My simple little Peacock Dance has turned into the Lisbon variation. Francine's going to go ballistic when she realizes that all that time we spent coming up with scenarios today was time she could have better spent at a beauty salon or the mall."

"She'll get over it." Lee rubbed tiny circles on his wife's hand. "I really hate that I'm not going to be your backup on this one."

"I know, I do too, especially since we really do work best as a team." Amanda smiled contentedly, enjoying the little massage her hand was getting. The feelings that ran through her at her husband's touch, were something that no other man could ever duplicate. "I don't know if anyone else would have been able to pick up the subtle signals I was giving you. Sometimes I wonder if we really can read each other's minds."

"You know, I could talk to Billy again, convince him that I'll do just fine as your backup. If tonight was any indication of how well I can keep my emotions under control…"

Amanda let out an ironic chuckle. "That's a good one. I bet you were ready to come over and personally drag Steven outside the restaurant for even laying a hand on me. I saw the jealousy and anger in your eyes."

Lee ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I admit I was jealous until I realized that it was Richmond you were talking to."

"Right," Amanda rolled her eyes. "And then your jealousy turned to anger, because I was meeting with our suspect without any backup."

"Can you blame me?" Lee let go of her hand and stood up. "You're the one who loves to quote the rule book back to me." He walked around the coffee table and began pacing in front of the fireplace. "I've lost count of the number of times you've told me not to go in without backup."

"And yet you do it every time, telling me to wait in the car." Amanda tilted her head and raised her eyebrows mockingly, daring him to argue with her.

Lee stopped his pacing and stared directly at his wife. "Right and you never follow those directions either, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you went with your gut instinct tonight as well."

"Well it did make the approach a whole lot easier, in fact took the whole made up scenarios out of the equation. Nothing works better than reality." Amanda rose from the couch and moved to close the distance between herself and her husband.

"Well, you're still going to have to figure out a way to get close to him again tomorrow." Lee looked at his wife knowingly. "So don't get too self-assured."

Amanda shook her head as she stood in front of him. "Actually, that won't be a problem." She smiled at him innocently. "Since you seemed so eager to get rid of me tonight, Steven asked me to join him for dinner tomorrow night."

"You seem to have the most amazing luck. How the devil do you do it?" Lee shook his head and chuckled lightly.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Fate must really like me. After all it brought us together, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did." Lee winked and then his expression turned serious once more. "We'll have to set up a meeting with Billy and Francine early tomorrow morning to fill them in." He folded his arms in front of his chest. "I still don't like that I'm not going to be there for you."

Amanda gently laid her hand on his arm. "I know that love, but if what I felt tonight is any indication, I know that it's going to be three times as hard tomorrow night, knowing that things will most likely progress to a more physical level. Do you have any idea how badly I wanted to run the other way when Steven offered to walk me to my car, or how hard it was to sit there in the bar, letting him hold my hand, when all I really wanted to do was tell him to leave me alone, that I was already spoken for, but knew that I couldn't because there's too much at stake." She bent her head down, suddenly finding her husband's carpet very interesting.

"Amanda, look at me." Lee gently placed a finger under her chin, and raised her head up. "Did something happen, something that you don't want to tell me about?"

Amanda shook her head. "No, he just held my hand and innocently flirted with me back at the bar. Other than that, since I know you were watching us walk back to my car, you saw everything that happened." She walked over to the fireplace and picked up a picture of the two of them that had been taken on Christmas Day. She ran her finger over it lovingly. "Lee, I need you to promise me that you won't be there." She looked up and met his gaze. "I'll only be able to go through with this if I know you aren't there listening. I know this is going to be hard for you Lee, but I need you to promise to stay away. Francine will be there, so I won't be alone, and I promise that I won't let things go too far." As she put the picture back on the mantle, she noticed another picture of the entire family and smiled. Needing to change the subject, she turned and walked back over towards her husband. "So you voluntarily had dinner with my mother, alone?"

Lee let out a small laugh. "I guess this is your way of telling me we need to drop the subject." He shook his head as his wife smiled innocently. "Fine, I'll let it go for now. To answer your question, yes I had dinner with your mother, alone and I had a very nice time, too. I felt guilty that she believed that Captain Curt had stood her up again. So I figured it was the least I could do, especially since she was sitting at the restaurant waiting for someone who wasn't going to show. We had a very nice time, even though I spent most of it watching the entrance for you to arrive. You must have shown up when the waiter was blocking my view of the door. Anyway, not sure why it's such a big deal, she is my mother-in-law, after all, and I happen to enjoy her company."

Amanda wrapped her arms around her husband's waist and smiled up at him. "It's not a big deal at all. I'm just a little shocked that you'd willingly face the firing squad, alone." She chuckled at her husband's bewildered look. "How many times did she bring up the subject of marriage, you know…between you and me?"

Lee shrugged his shoulders. "Only once." He watched his wife raise her eyebrows skeptically. "Okay, three times, but between our very attentive waiter and my exceptional spy skills, I managed to divert the conversation to safer topics."

Amanda leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips. "Well at least you weren't waiting alone." Then, remembering that her mother was supposed to go away with Captain Curt, she looked at her husband curiously. "Wait, you said Captain Curt stood mother up? That's not like him, I hope he's okay."

"I hope so, too." Lee leaned his head against his wife's forehead. "While I was slightly distracted keeping an eye out for you, your mother was busy worrying about him. She was hoping that there'd be a message or something from him when she got home."

Amanda's eyes grew wide and she removed her hands from around her husband's waist. "Oh my goodness, mother is probably worrying about me and wondering where I am, especially when she gets home and realized that I wasn't there. I should give her a call and let her know I'm all right." She quickly turned and headed over to the phone. Picking up the receiver, she dialed the familiar number "Hello mother … Yes, I heard. I'm with Lee now … We ran into each other outside the restaurant … Did you hear from Captain Curt? … I'm glad he's okay … okay, I will … well then I'll see you sometime tomorrow … Goodnight mother."

"Sounds like she heard from Captain Curt." Lee glanced at her curiously as he watched her hang up the phone.

Amanda smiled as she walked back over to her husband. "Yes, she said that Captain Curt called and he's fine, but he spent the entire day working on his plane. Apparently there was some major problem with it, and he didn't realize how late it had gotten. He apologized to her and promised to make it up to her. She also made me promise to thank you again, and to tell you that she had a wonderful time. "

Lee closed the distance and pulled her back into his arms. "That's good. Now, what was that last comment I heard, something about seeing her sometime tomorrow?" He looked at her hopefully.

"Well, mother said that since it's already so late, and that she ended up stealing my date for the night, she told me that she doesn't plan on waiting up for me, and she's locking up." Amanda wrapped her arms around him. "She wished me and you a wonderful evening."

Lee's face broke into a huge grin. "So that means you're staying? That I get to spend the whole night with my wife."

Amanda smiled seductively at her husband. "Most definitely."

"If this is her way of thanking me for dinner, I'll have to treat her more often." Lee's grin quickly turned into a frown. "Wait, I just realized, you didn't get to eat. You must be starved. How about I see what I have in the kitchen and whip something up for you?"

Amanda shook her head. "I'm not really very hungry anymore, at least not for food." She leaned up and captured his lips in a very inviting kiss. All she really wanted was to feel her husband's lips claiming her with the same passion and hunger that she had seen reflected in Richmond's eyes back at the bar; a look that she only ever wanted to see in her husband's eyes when he gazed at her. "Make love to me, Lee. I need you to show me how much you love me. I don't think I'll be able to get through the next twenty-four hours unless I have some memory of your love to cling to."

Lee tightened his arms around his wife and, pulling her closer, kissed her hungrily. "I think that can be arranged. Amanda," he looked deeply into her eyes, "regardless of what happens tomorrow, and whether or not you have to go back to Richmond's apartment, that's tomorrow. Tonight, I want to be with you, my wife. Let's put on our rings and just be Mr. and Mrs. Stetson for a few hours. We'll pretend that there's no Agency, no assassination plot, no interruptions. Just us." Then, without saying another word, he lifted her into his arms and, as he carried her towards the bedroom, he claimed her lips once more.

To Be Continued…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Lee opened the door for Amanda and allowed her to enter the Georgetown foyer ahead of him. Once inside he put his hand on the small of her back and led her over to Mrs. Marston's desk. "Good morning, Mrs. Marston. The word of the day is 'marshmallow'." He said with a grin.

Mrs. Marston, in her usual business-like manner just shook her head slightly as she handed the pair their badges. "Mr. Melrose wanted to see you both in his office the minute you two arrived."

Amanda accepted her badge and looked over at her husband with a curious expression on her face. "I wonder what that's all about."

Lee just shrugged. "I don't know, but I guess we should head down and find out."

Amanda nodded. "Why don't you give me your coat? I'll run it upstairs along with mine and my purse and I'll meet you downstairs."

Lee nodded and began to take his coat off. "Okay, but don't take too long." He smiled as he handed her his coat and was about to lean in to place a quick kiss on her lips, but stopped when he realized exactly where they were. His wife smiled and he watched as she headed up the stairs, before turning and walking over to the elevator. Clipping his badge to his suit jacket, he opened the 'closet door' and stepped into the waiting car. As he closed the door and pushed the down button, he couldn't keep the grin off his face. There was something wonderful and magical about waking up with his wife in his arms. It wasn't something they got to do very often, and usually not on a workday. Despite the difficult and emotional case that they had to deal with tonight, stolen moments like this morning were something that helped make coming to work every day bearable.

When the elevator reached his level, Lee stepped out into the hallway and, with a spring in his step, walked down the hallway, gracing everyone with his smile. He nodded politely at the MP guard who opened the door for him, and winked at Francine who was standing at the coffee maker, pouring herself a cup of the caffeinated brew. "Good morning, Francine."

"Good morning, Lee." Francine stared at her friend in shock and then glanced down at her watch. "You're in early, what happened? Couldn't sleep? No wait, you're in too good a mood, let me guess, you got lucky didn't you. Who's the lucky woman, someone I know?" She raised her eyebrows mockingly.

Lee rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I'm going to ignore that last comment. Can't a guy be in a good mood once in a while?"

"Yes, a guy can, you on the other hand…" Francine smiled at her friend and chuckled when he rolled his eyes again, his grin never faltering. "Oh, by the way, you'll be happy to know that you won't be sitting around twiddling your thumbs while Amanda and I are busy tonight. Of course you may have to break whatever date you might have set up for tonight."

"Really? Did Billy change his mind about sending me in as part of the backup team?" Lee's grin grew a little wider at the thought that he would still be watching his partner's back.

"Hardly." Francine shook her head. "I just happen to know that Billy has a really simple assignment for you, something about a stakeout in Rockville."

Lee's grin quickly changed to a frown, and he gritted his teeth. "Rockville? Wait you're joking right?" He watched as Francine shook her head. "You're not." He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Has Billy forgotten that he already assigned me to the same case that you're on? I may not be Amanda's backup, but there are other things I could be doing, research perhaps, keeping an eye on Stoev."

Francine shrugged her shoulders and headed over to her desk. "Hey don't tell it to me, bring it up with Billy."

Lee glared at the blonde's retreating figure. "Great, well there goes my good mood!"

Amanda entered the bullpen and her own smile quickly faded when she noticed the scowl on her husband's face. "Let me guess, you found out what Mr. Melrose wanted."

Lee shrugged. "I don't know why he called us down here first thing, but Francine hinted that I might be going to Rockville tonight."

"Oh," Amanda couldn't hide the disappointment from her voice. "I guess that means that tonight is still on." She smiled half-heartedly at her husband's curious expression. "For a minute there, I'd gotten my hopes up that Mr. Melrose was going to tell us that there was another way to stop the assassination and I wouldn't have to go through with the Peacock Dance tonight."

Lee put his hand at the small of her back. "Somehow I don't think our luck is that good. Come on, we might as well go see what he wants." He led her towards their boss's office door. Knocking, he watched as Billy glanced up and waved them in, before turning the knob and opening the door. He let Amanda enter ahead of him and then, as he followed her inside, he nodded politely towards their section chief, who was busy talking on the phone.

"I don't care how many signatures you have to track down. I need those documents signed by the end of the day today, or someone's head is going to roll." Billy growled into the phone and then slammed it down on its base. He glanced up at the two agents who had just entered the room.

"Good morning, sir." Amanda smiled, trying to ease the tension she could sense in the air.

"Good is definitely not a word I would use to describe this morning." Billy stood up and placed his hands on his desk. "Do you two mind telling me just what the hell you were thinking last night!"

Amanda shot a confused glance over towards her husband, who just shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry, sir," She looked back in her boss's direction, "I'm afraid we're not quite sure what you mean."

Billy picked up a piece of paper from his desk and began waving it around. "I'm referring to this, Agent Duffy's surveillance report from last night. I can tell from the confused looks on both your faces that you forgot that we were keeping tabs on Richmond." He threw the paper back down on his desk. "Duffy witnessed the entire exchange outside l'Etoile last night. He even got a few pictures." He picked up a folder and thrust it in Lee's direction. "I want to know what the devil Amanda's mother was doing there and why you two decided to take it upon yourselves to make first contact with our suspect, without checking with me first. I don't like to come in first thing in the morning and find out my agents are going off and setting up meets without my approval."

Lee opened the folder and sure enough the top picture was of him helping Dotty West into a cab. He glanced up at his boss with an irritated expression. "What the hell was Duffy doing taking my picture if he was supposed to be tailing Richmond?"

Billy fixed Lee with a hard stare. "Because he was doing his job. Duffy explained that since he knew Richmond was in the restaurant and two of our agents just happened to show up, he thought it looked slightly suspicious. He didn't want to be accused of not recording all of the facts. If you look through the pictures, you'll notice that he took a picture of Amanda entering the restaurant as well, so he obviously wasn't singling you out, Scarecrow." He folded his arms across his chest. "Now would you care to explain exactly why both of you were at that restaurant last night?"

"Billy," Lee handed the folder back to his boss, and then walked over and placed his hands on the back of the chair Amanda was sitting in, "it's not what you think. It was a fluke. In fact we were planning on coming down to fill you in on what happened as soon as we got in this morning."

"Scarecrow, you better than anyone should know what the procedure is for something like that. Can you explain to me why you didn't call in and leave a report with the switchboard?" Billy looked at his top agent, whose eyes were focused on his partner. He had a feeling he knew exactly why they hadn't followed procedure. "I can't wait to hear you talk your way out of this one." He sat down and picking up his bottle of Tums, he dumped a few into his hand and popped them into his mouth.

Amanda nodded. "He's right, sir. You see it really was all quite innocent." She began explaining, hoping to get their boss to forget about the fact that they hadn't called in. "Lee sent me a message to meet him at l'Etoile, his way of apologizing for his behavior yesterday, but since I was late getting home because our meeting," she gestured around the room, "ran long, my mother got the message first and thought she was supposed to meet Captain Curt there, that's my mother's current boyfriend, anyway, she thought he was trying to make it up to her for standing her up earlier, so my mother went to the restaurant to meet him, only of course he wasn't going to show up, but she didn't know that." She leaned forward in her chair, and looked back at her husband. "While she was waiting, Lee showed up, and when he found out that my mother was waiting for Captain Curt, who he knew wasn't going to show up since Lee was the one who sent the flowers, which meant that Captain Curt had no idea that my mother was waiting for him," she glanced back at her boss, "well Lee, being the gentleman that he is, asked my mother to join him for dinner. When I got home and saw the flowers, I rushed like crazy to get to the restaurant, but got stuck in traffic and ended up being an hour late. But when I got to the restaurant, there weren't any reservations under Lee's name or mine, so I went to the bar to see if Lee was there, but he wasn't so I asked the bartender if I could use his phone to call Lee at his apartment. When I got off the phone, there was Richmond staring at me, so," she paused and took a deep breath. "I didn't want the opportunity to go to waste."  
Billy brought his hands up and began rubbing his temples. "Amazingly enough I think I followed that. If your mother was there, how did you manage to pull off the argument? Didn't she get suspicious when she saw you talking to another man, Amanda?"

Lee shook his head. "Fortunately, Dot…Mrs. West never saw Amanda in the bar with Richmond. I made sure she got safely into the cab and then went back inside."

Amanda nodded. "We both kind of improvised and made it look like Lee was a jealous boyfriend. I guess you can say we initiated the Lisbon variation of the Peacock Dance." She leaned back in her chair and felt her husband's hand come to rest on her shoulder. "As soon as we started making a scene we left the restaurant. It was mere coincidence that Steven followed us outside, but since he did, we kept improvising."

Billy shook his head and chuckled. "Is it me, or do these chances of fate only happen to you, Amanda?"

"I do seem to always end up in the right place at the right time, or the wrong place depending on the circumstance, don't I?" Amanda let out a nervous laugh.

"It seems, then, that all we need to do is figure out a way for you to see Richmond again tonight." Billy leaned forward and looked at Amanda.

Lee walked over to the window and leaned back against it. "Actually, Billy, we don't. Our little argument was quite convincing. He invited her to dinner tonight."

"I better get Francine in here, all the scenarios we ran through yesterday need to be scratched." Billy picked up the phone and dialed his assistant's extension. "Francine, come to my office now, please." He then hung up the phone and looked over at Lee. "While we wait for her to get here, I might as well give you your assignment for tonight, Scarecrow."

Lee crossed his arms in front of him and glared at his boss. "Francine already told me…a stakeout in Rockville? Come on, Billy, don't you think that's a little extreme? I don't need to be banished to the other side of the district. I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize this assignment. Put me on the emergency backup, so that I can be called in to help clean up."

Billy shook his head. "Sorry Scarecrow, this isn't open for debate. I need you to work with Fielder, keeping tabs on this man." He picked up a folder from his desk and handed it over to Lee. "You can get together with Fred and figure out the details." He breathed a sigh of relief when Francine walked in, and before Lee could utter any further protests, he smiled at his assistant. "Francine, Amanda made contact with Richmond last night."

Francine stopped in her tracks and stared incredulously at her boss. "What do you mean, Amanda made contact with Richmond?"

Billy put up a hand to stop his assistant's protests. "It was a chance encounter, Amanda just happened to be in the right place and ran into him."

Francine slapped the pad of paper she was holding against her leg and glanced over at Amanda. "Do you mean we wasted all that time setting up possible approach scenarios and the guy just falls into your lap?" She watched the brunette shrug and nod. "I don't know why I should be surprised, you are, after all Amanda King, Queen of Chance Encounters."

"That's enough Francine." Billy barked. "Amanda, you and Lee will type up your report of last night's encounter." He let a thin smile cross his lips. "Don't think that your enchanting ramble got you off the hook for not calling in your meet in last night. However, considering how hard this case is on both of you, I'll let it slide…this time, but don't let it happen again." He cleared his throat and got back to the business at hand. "Once you've turned your report in to me," he looked in Amanda's direction, "I want you to get together with Francine and make out a shopping list of what you'll need tonight, and take it down to Leatherneck. Did you remember to bring in the blouse you were going to wear so that he can outfit it with the wire?"

"No sir, I didn't." Amanda found the carpet suddenly very interesting the memory of why she didn't make it home last night making her blush. "With everything that happened last night…"

Billy nodded. "I understand, okay, get the list to Leatherneck, then I want you and Francine to go retrieve what you're going to wear and get it back here. What time are you supposed to meet Richmond?"

"I don't know, I haven't called him to accept the offer yet." Amanda fidgeted slightly in her seat. "I didn't want to seem too eager and make him suspicious."

"Well then as soon as we finish here, go and make your phone call, then call me and let me know what time." Billy turned towards Lee, "Since your partner has a few other things to take care of, I want you to start on that report, Amanda can add her part later." He leaned back in his chair and softened his features as he turned his gaze back towards the brunette. "Amanda, once you've taken care off everything you need to in order to get ready, I want you to take the rest of the afternoon off and do whatever you need to do to prepare yourself for tonight."

Amanda leaned forward in her chair. "Sir, I'd much rather just bury myself in work, perhaps catch up on some much needed filing."

Billy shook his head. "I know how difficult this assignment is for you, Amanda, and I want you to be mentally prepared for this." He turned and looked at his assistant. "Francine, I want you to make sure she pampers herself. Take her to a spa, a salon, or wherever you think would work best. We'll reconvene up in the Q-bureau two hours before Amanda has to meet with Richmond. I'll make sure Leatherneck is there as well."

Francine's eyes grew wide and she grinned. "Is this something we get to write off on our expense reports?" She watched as her boss nodded. "You're serious? We get to spend the day at a spa, and you're going to let the Agency pick up the bill?" Her grin grew wider when Billy nodded again. She turned and looked at Amanda. "I think I want to be your partner more often."

Lee glared mockingly at the blonde. "Don't get any bright ideas, Francine."

"I don't know, I think I might enjoy working with Francine for awhile." Amanda smiled as her husband glared at her. "At least she does her own paperwork."

Francine laughed. "She's got a very good point there, Scarecrow." She then turned towards Amanda. "Did you drive this morning, or do you need a lift home to get your outfit for tonight?"

"Actually, Lee did give me a ride in this morning." Amanda didn't want to tell Francine that she'd actually left her car over at Lee's apartment. She just hoped that her mother wasn't home, but if she was, than she'd just tell Francine that the car was parked in the garage. Suddenly she bit her lip in thought as she realized that she wouldn't have access to her car tonight. She'd been too preoccupied with other things, this morning to think about the fact that she'd need transportation to the restaurant later. Oh well, she'd just have to call a cab, since she wouldn't be able to ride along in the Agency van, that would look a little suspicious if Steven saw her climbing out of that. She let out a sigh as she looked at Francine questioningly. "Do you mind running me by my house and then coming back here? If it's too much trouble, I'm sure I could just call a cab." She stood up and started heading for the door.

"Nonsense, I'll drive and on the ride over to your place, we can come up with that list we need to give Leatherneck. Then after we pick up what you need, we can come back here, drop everything off with him and then start our day of pampering." Francine smiled as she fell into step behind the brunette. "You are going to have so much fun."

Lee watched the two women as they walked over to Francine's desk, most likely to retrieve the blonde's purse. "Billy, since you've managed to give my partner a partial day off," he turned and looked at his boss, "what exactly am I supposed to do?"

Billy smiled at Lee. "I want you to do spend the day doing research. I want to make sure that we've got all our bases covered. Check in with your family about any known associates that Stoev might have, what happens if Richmond doesn't come through. I want a backup plan in place, if we can't get anything out of Richmond tonight, we still have one more day to pull this off before the Inauguration on Friday."

"I don't suppose I can change your mind about tonight, can I?" Lee looked at his boss almost pleadingly. The look his section chief gave him, was answer enough, it told him not to even think of starting down that path again. He didn't like it, but he knew he'd have to accept it – for now. With a sigh of acceptance, he turned towards the door. "I'd better get up to the Q-Bureau and start digging through everything we have on Stoev."

"Hold it, Lee."

Lee closed his eyes, took a deep breath and turned back towards his boss. "Billy, can whatever it is wait, I saw the files Amanda pulled yesterday, and I have a lot of research to do, and apparently a report to write." Truthfully, he wanted to get up to the Q Bureau and catch his wife before she left with Francine. He wanted to wish her luck and remind her how much he loved her. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get another chance to see her until this whole affair was over.

"No, it can't." Billy shook his head adamantly and fixed Lee with a pointed glare. "I want to make sure you don't plan on leaving Fielder stranded. You may think that the Rockville assignment is just a way of keeping you away from Amanda tonight…but this surveillance is just as important as any other assignment I've ever given you."

"Billy…" Lee started to protest.

Billy held up a hand. "I mean it Scarecrow… Ever since we found out about this assassination attempt, I haven't had a moment's peace, which means I have very little patience left, one slip up…"

Lee took a deep breath. "Don't worry Billy, I know exactly where my duty lies." He turned and walked out of his boss's office.

Billy watched his agent walk out of the bullpen. "That's what I'm afraid of." He muttered to the now empty room and sitting down, he picked up Duffy's report from where it had landed on his desk after he'd tossed it down and put it in the folder marked 'Richmond/Stoev'.

Lee hurried out of the bullpen and practically ran towards the elevator. Although he knew his wife would probably prefer to have as little contact with him as possible right now, so she could concentrate on the task ahead of her, he needed to hold her one more time and make sure that she knew just much he loved her. He had just reached his destination when he saw Frank Duffy round the corner.

"Hey, Scarecrow, where's the fire?" Duffy chuckled as he headed over to the elevator.

Lee took a deep breath and pushed the call button. "Just trying to catch Amanda and Francine before they leave."

"Speaking of Amanda," Duffy smiled mockingly, "does your partner know that you're dating older women now?"

Lee glared at his fellow agent. "Duffy who I date is none of your business." As the elevator doors opened, he stepped inside, hoping that his last comment was enough to shut his colleague up. He should have known better.

Following Lee into the small closet elevator, Duffy punched him good-naturedly in the arm. "I think it's great that you've decided to go after women with a little more 'experience'. You know I'm referring to the blonde you put in the cab last night right." He let out a low whistle. "Man, she was a looker."

Doing his best to resist the urge to grab Duffy by the collar and throttle him, Lee gritted his teeth and, keeping his clenched fists tightly against his sides, he glared at the other man. "Duffy, I suggest you stop right now. You're talking about a member of my family." Since Duffy obviously didn't know that the blonde woman from last night was Amanda's mother, he figured he'd let his fellow agent think he was referring to one of his civilian eyes and ears. "Not that it's any of your business, but she had some personal problems and I was trying to cheer her up. So if you know what's good for you, you'll bite your tongue before I do something I can't take back."

Duffy saw the hint of anger in Lee's eyes, and knew when he'd pushed the Scarecrow's buttons just a little too far, so when the elevator dinged their arrival to the main level, he let out a sigh of relief. "Hint taken, Scarecrow." He stepped out of the elevator and, pulling off his badge, practically threw it at Mrs. Marston as he walked briskly towards the front door.

Lee shook his head and relaxed his hands. He then nodded at Mrs. Marston, "Francine and Amanda haven't left yet have they?" He smiled when the older woman shook her head. He then turned and made his way to the stairs and took them three at a time. In record time he reached the top of the stairs and pulled open the door at the top. As he stepped into the small hallway, he heard his wife's voice floating through the partially open door.

"Francine, since you've met Steven before, do you remember if he seemed like someone who had a lot to hide?"

"I'm not sure what you're getting at Amanda. The Steven I remember could spin a tale just like any other man that wanted to get a woman into bed."

"That's not what I meant. I saw something last night in his eyes. There was a look, something I couldn't quite put my finger on, but it was almost haunted, maybe even guilt."

"Well the guy is planning on taking another man's life willingly. Unless you're a terrorist born and raised not to value human life, it's bound to affect you."

"I guess…it's just, I don't think he's taking part in this assassination willingly, it's almost like Stoev might be forcing his hand, maybe blackmailing him, I don't know…"

Lee tuned the rest of his wife's words out as he suddenly realized that Amanda was sharing this insight with Francine, something that she hadn't shared with him. Why hadn't she shared her concerns with him last night? He knew his wife always tried to see the best in people, but something in her voice told him that there might be something more than just her usual concern. It was almost as if she was falling for this guy. Is that why she hadn't shared this with him, because she didn't want to admit to him that she was attracted to Richmond? Maybe she really wasn't as opposed to seducing this guy as she had led him to believe and that was the real reason that she didn't want him in the van listening. He shook his head and quickly dismissed that thought. He'd seen the haunted look in her eyes last night and he reminded himself just how much his wife loved him and that she would never willingly do anything to jeopardize that love. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and nonchalantly stepped into the office. "Good you haven't left yet," he turned and smiled at the blonde, "Francine, do you mind if I have a moment alone with my partner?"

Francine shook her head. "Not at all." She walked over to the door and turned towards Amanda. "I'll meet you at my car. Don't take too long, though. I can just feel that mud bath wiping away the stress of the past few weeks."

Amanda chuckled. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Lee closed and locked the door behind Francine, before walking over and taking his wife into his arms. "I don't know if we'll get a chance to talk again before your dinner with Richmond." He pulled her closer to him and tenderly kissed her forehead. "I wanted to let you know that I love you and that I trust you. I know that you don't want to do this, and that you don't have a choice…" He stopped himself, and swallowed the bile that suddenly started rising in his throat. He took a deep breath, hoping that his wife would save him from his own dark thoughts and say something to wipe away the doubts and fears that had suddenly started to plague him.

Amanda could hear the uncertainty in her husband's voice and, pulling back slightly, she gazed into his hazel eyes. "Lee, you do know how much I love you, don't you and that I would never do anything to hurt you. Those vows I took in the Marion County courthouse meant everything to me, and I swear to you that I will never, ever, do anything to break them." She pulled his head down and captured his lips with hers in a very passionate kiss. When she pulled back, she looked back into his eyes. "I'll be okay. Francine's going to be there and I need you to promise me one more time that you won't be in the van tonight. I won't be able to do this if I know you're listening."

Lee let out a deep sigh. "I promise." Removing his arms from around her waist, he stepped back and ran a hand through his hair. "Besides, it's not like I have a choice. Billy made sure that I'd be far away…in Rockville…with Fred Fielder of all people."

"I'll meet you back at your apartment when it's all over, okay?" Amanda walked over to him and trailed a finger lightly along his arm.

"What about your mother. I was surprised, pleasantly that is, last night when she all but told you to stay with me. But that was last night, what are you planning on telling her for tonight?" Lee eyed her skeptically.

Amanda stepped away from her husband and, moving over to her desk, she picked up her purse. "I'll think of something. Besides, if last night was any indication, I know I'm going to need your arms around me, holding me and loving me tonight, there's no doubt about that." She blew him a kiss as she moved over to the door and, unlocking it, stepped out into the hallway.

Lee watched her go and let out a long sigh. He didn't know if he was going to have the strength to abide by her wishes and stay away from the van. He didn't have to meet Fielder until nine-thirty, so maybe he could sneak into the van for a little while. The not knowing was going to kill him and there was no way he was going to be able to spend half the night with Fielder if he didn't at least check up on his wife. Besides, he had enough blackmail material on Francine to make her keep quiet. With his mind made up, he moved over to his desk and, sitting down, turned the computer on to start on their report for Billy on last night's encounter.

_SMK SMK SMK_

Amanda lay on the padded table relishing the feelings of the masseuse's hands easing away all the tension from her body. She opened her eyes and saw her coworker staring at her with a curious expression on her face. "Is there something you want to ask me, Francine?"

"Yes, actually, there is." Francine closed her eyes and sighed contentedly as her masseuse relaxed a particularly tight muscle. "You and Lee never broke up like you told me you did, did you?"

Amanda feigned ignorance. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about, Francine. Lee and I are partners, nothing more."

Francine rolled her eyes and let out a very unladylike snort. "Oh please, I wasn't born yesterday. Did you really think that I bought that story you fed me that you broke up with him?" She watched Amanda shrug her shoulders slightly. "Okay, I'll admit I believed you for about a day, but then I saw they way you two acted around each other after that. You two didn't act like a couple who had just broken up, and you certainly don't act like 'just partners', even now. In fact, you two seem closer than ever."

"Francine…"

"You can stop the protesting right now, I'm good at picking up clues, after all it is my profession." Francine raised her eyebrows knowingly. "Besides, anyone has to be blind not to see how much Lee cares for you, hell just look at how ballistic he went when he found out that you were going to have to do the Peacock Dance. I know Lee, maybe not as well as you do, but that man was acting more like a jealous lover than just an overprotective partner."

"Ungh." Amanda grunted as her masseuse found a particularly tight spot that didn't seem to want to relax. "Francine, Lee's my partner, partners look out for each other…"

When her masseuse had stopped massaging her upper body and stepped away from the table, Francine raised herself up slightly and put her head on her hands. "Look, it's hard to make friends in this business, let alone find time to have a love life, and I realize that I haven't been your biggest supporter, and I'm sorry for that."

"Oh Francine, you don't need to apologize. I understand, really I do." Amanda sighed. "I actually appreciate the fact that you cared enough to warn me about Lee last year. I also find it comforting that that you were acting out of concern, not just for me, but for Lee too…but…"

"But nothing, Amanda, anyone with eyes can see that Lee cares very deeply for you, in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say that Lee was head over heels in love with you." Francine shot her a friendly smile. "I know Lee, and I don't mean in an intimate way, either. It's just that I've known him for a long time and he has never, ever looked at a woman the way he looks at you. I have to admit, that in the beginning, when you first started working for us, I thought for sure you'd get tired of his less than cavalier attitude towards you. But then, somewhere along the way, and I couldn't pinpoint the exact time if I tried, his attitude towards you changed. He actually enjoyed having you around and jumped at the chance to work with you." She looked at Amanda curiously. "Can I ask you something?"

"Isn't that what you've been doing?" Amanda chuckled. "Sorry, go ahead."

"Since you're such an intuitive person, I'm sure you realized that Lee wasn't exactly thrilled to be working with a housewife." Francine gave her a sympathetic look. "What made you keep coming back?"

Amanda smiled thoughtfully. "Lee, actually. I didn't know much about him back then, other than the fact that he'd lost his partner. And perhaps it was that fact. I know what it's like to lose someone close to you, and after Mr. Melrose told me that he would call on me from time to time, I made a decision that I would never let Lee down and that I would be there for him. Call it mother's intuition, but I could tell that there was a part of Lee that longed to have a real friend, someone he could count on, even if he wasn't ready to openly admit it." She let out a small sigh. "However, when I made that promise to myself, I didn't realize how stubborn, pigheaded and smothering he could be."

Francine chuckled. "To be honest, I never knew he could be that way either. At first I thought he was that way with you because you were a civilian with no training and he felt responsible for you. But then, after you started proving yourself, in unique ways I might add," She smiled at Amanda, "I realized that his need to protect you went a little deeper than just feeling responsible for you. He's lost so much in his life, and I think the reason he's so protective of you is that he's afraid of losing you."

"I know he has, and sometimes I actually think of his protectiveness as endearing." Amanda smiled briefly. "But then other times, it can be just a little too frustrating, I'd even go so far as to say restrictive, like I can't make my own decisions. You know it was bad enough yesterday when I was being ordered to take this assignment, but then when he comes in and starts acting like my keeper, in front of you and Mr. Melrose, it makes me so angry. He didn't even bother to wait and get all the facts, he just decides to jump in and give his opinion."

"That's our Lee for you, always acting first, thinking later." Francine smiled warmly at Amanda. "You know, once he got used to having you around, he would worry about you all the time. He never admitted it to anyone, but I always noticed it in the way he would act whenever you were in trouble. Back when you first started working for the Agency, I think he worried about you because he felt like it was his fault that you got mixed up in this business and maybe he still does. However, somewhere along the line his worry for you changed from one of responsibility to something more."

Francine laid her head back on the table when her masseuse returned and began rubbing scented oil on her back. "Lee likes to be in control of things and because you're smart, intelligent, headstrong, and probably just as stubborn as he is," she shot Amanda a toothy grin, "his male ego sometimes comes to the forefront so that he can assert some semblance of control in situations he really has no control over, like the one yesterday in Billy's office. He's afraid of losing you, in fact he almost did. I don't think anything gave him more of a reality check than when you were shot." She noticed the brunette shudder slightly. "I know you may not want to hear this, and it's probably something you're already aware of, but he called us while he was tracking down the shooter and I have never heard him so distraught, not even when you'd been kidnapped by Addi Birol. Don't get me wrong, he was a wreck while that madman had you, but I got the strangest feeling when we were talking to him, that if you hadn't pulled through, he would have completely lost it. It was as if he was no longer prepared to go on with his life if you weren't around to share it with him."

Amanda's eyes glistened with unshed tears and her voice was just above a whisper as she spoke. "I know exactly how he felt, because I'd feel the same way if I ever lost him." The blonde's honest assessment of Lee's feelings towards her, broke down all remaining defenses she might have had, and her need to keep her true feelings for Lee hidden from her friend, evaporated. "I love him, Francine, more than anything in the world and I know he loves me just as much."

"I guess that answered my original question then. I never thought I'd see the day that Lee Stetson was off the market." Francine smiled innocently. "So, just how off the market is Lee?"

Amanda let out a long sigh. "Francine, if I answer you honestly, you have to promise me that you'll keep it to yourself. You can't tell Mr. Melrose or anyone else, not even if they order you to tell them."

Francine eyed Amanda curiously. What could be so big that she'd have to make such a promise? Her curiosity won over any amount of better judgment she might have had, and she nodded her head. "If it's that important to you that I keep this to myself, then yes, I promise."

Amanda began to sit up, wrapping her towel securely around her body and looked over at her masseuse who had just told her that her massage was done. "Thank you, I haven't felt this good in a long time." She smiled as the masseuse nodded and then headed towards the exit. She then turned back towards her friend and, taking a deep breath, prayed that her husband wouldn't kill her for telling Francine their secret. "Lee and I were on our honeymoon when I was shot."  
Francine's eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. "Are you telling me that you and Lee got married?"  
"Yes, Francine, that's exactly what I'm saying. People who go on a honeymoon, usually do so because they just got married." Amanda tried to stifle a giggle at the blonde's bewilderment.

"Very funny." Francine waived her masseuse away, and as she began to sit up, she made sure her towel was wrapped securely around her body, before maneuvering herself to a full sitting position. Swinging her legs over the edge of the table, she stared at Amanda. "You're serious? You and Lee got married?" Watching the brunette nod her head, she let out a low whistle. "Wow, this is so much bigger than I thought it was going to be. Why keep it such a secret?" She looked around to make sure that both masseuses were no longer in the room before continuing. "I mean if it were me, and I had just landed the sexiest spy in all of D.C., I'd be shouting it from every rooftop."

"Oh, how I wish I could." Amanda gave Francine a half-hearted smile and sighed. "In fact, we hadn't planned on keeping our marriage a secret, but after what happened to Khai's little boy, we were concerned about my family's safety. Then there's the little matter of how Dr. Smyth would react. We didn't want to be split up as a team. The months after I returned from California and was on restrictive duty were torture, I hated not being able to be out there watching Lee's back."

"So you two sacrificed a normal marriage to protect your family." Francine shook her head and looked at Amanda with an expression that was a mixture of amazement and respect. "Wow, Lee Stetson married. I didn't think I'd ever live to see the day that that ever happened to the Agency's biggest loner, but I guess that title doesn't really apply to him anymore, does it. This huge piece of information sure explains a lot about his behavior over the past two years. Like his reaction in Billy's office yesterday. No wonder he got so upset." She let out a chuckle. "You know I should have realized that there's been an extra spring in Scarecrow's step lately, who would have thought that being married would be the reason. Even you," she hopped off the table and started heading for the steam room, "you've changed, you're more confident and so much more self-assured."

"Thank you, Francine." Amanda climbed down from her table and followed the blonde into the other room. It was a very rare occasion when Francine paid her any type of compliment.

Francine sat down on one of the benches and leaned her head back, enjoying the warm mist. "Man, I can't wait to see expressions on the faces of the girls in the steno pool when they find out. They are going to be so jealous."

"Fran-cine, you promised." Amanda sat down on the bench next to the blonde's and glanced at her with a pleading expression. "You can't tell anyone. Not even my family knows, they just think Lee's my boyfriend. In fact, other than a family friend of Lee's you're the only other friend who knows."

Francine looked at Amanda with a shocked expression "Really, you haven't told anyone else, not even your mother?" Her face softened as the brunette nodded. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone, but the truth is going to come out sooner or later. You two don't plan on keeping this a secret forever, do you? I mean no one's perfect and one of you is bound to slip up. I'm surprised Lee didn't blurt it out yesterday."

"He almost did, but he caught himself." Amanda let out a long sigh. "I know we'll come clean eventually, when the timing is right, although I don't know if the timing will ever be right…but I do know one thing, right now is definitely not the right time."

Francine nodded in agreement. "You're not wrong about that, do you know how many heads would roll if it came out that a married agent was ordered to perform a Peacock Dance and that the head of the Agency was the one who demanded she do it?"

"Would serve Dr. Smyth right." Amanda mumbled.

Francine laughed. "It certainly would. Speaking of the old smoke stack, you have to promise me that I get to be present when you actually spill the beans to him, because that is going to be a day for the record books. And, can you let me be the one to tell the girls in the steno pool. I really do want to see their faces when they find out that the Agency's most eligible bachelor is no longer available."

Amanda chuckled and nodded. "I promise to let you have that honor, and I'll see what I can do about making sure you get a front row seat when we tell Dr. Smyth." She then leaned forward and looked at her friend with a hesitant expression on her face. "Francine, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Francine nodded, "what's on your mind?"

"You've done the Peacock Dance before right?" After seeing Francine's slight nod of agreement, Amanda leaned back and closed her eyes. "Does it get easier, I mean, to pretend that you're attracted to someone, and try and get them into bed just to get information out of them."

"No," Francine shook her head mournfully, "it never gets easier, but you learn to shut off your feelings and just do your job, like an actress would."

"That's what Lee said, that I should treat this assignment like a play where I'm writing the script as I go along." Amanda leaned her head back against the wall and sighed. "But, I'm married, and I take those vows very seriously." She glanced over at Francine. "How do I do this without feeling like I'm cheating on Lee? What if the drug doesn't work and…"

Francine leaned forward and placed a hand on Amanda's arm, her expression serious. "You just have to have faith in the equipment that the Agency is going to give you. The drugs the doctors whip up are pretty powerful and fast acting. Trust me, the drug will work." Realizing that the gesture was a little friendlier than she was used to, she quickly removed her hand and placed it on the bench beside her.

"I hope you're right." Amanda gave Francine a half-hearted smile. "I'm just glad Lee's not going to be in the van. It's going to be hard enough to let Steven kiss me and kiss him back without Lee listening in, but if I knew that he was in the van…I'm not sure I'd be able to go through with it." Her expression turned serious again. "Francine, what happens if I don't get a chance to put the drug in a drink and I have to go a lot further than I originally intended?"

"Just remember that you're the one in control. You're a trained agent, Amanda," Francine wiped away a bead of sweat from her eye that had trickled down from her forehead, "don't lose sight of that. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. If the drug doesn't seem to be working and things are progressing a lot further than you want it to, put a stop to it. Excuse yourself to use the bathroom, or tell him that you aren't ready to go that far, at least not on a first date. I know Steven and he may be a womanizer, but he's not the type to force a woman to do anything she doesn't want to do. However, if that angle doesn't work for you, just knock him out." She grinned and let out a chuckle. "I hear you're a real pro when it comes to using a lamp."

Amanda glared mockingly at the blonde. "Very funny, Francine."

"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Francine chuckled again. "But seriously, call on your Agency training and find a way, and once you've rendered him unconscious, just talk to me through the wire and I'll bring the backup syringe with the truth serum in it."

"I guess that'll be our best backup plan. Especially since Mr. Melrose said that we're not allowed to arrest Steven." Feeling her towel start to loosen, Amanda tightened the knot above her breasts. "We don't want to risk tipping Stoev and whoever else is behind this too early. They have to believe that everything is going according to plan."

Francine nodded. "Exactly, and once we get Steven to talk and find out what the plan is, we can put a plan of our own into action to take him out of the equation right before the Inauguration begins." She glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Now, enough shop talk, we're here to help you relax." She stood up and motioned for Amanda to do the same. "Come on we have facials and the mud bath next, you're going to love that."

Amanda rolled her eyes. She never could understand why people enjoyed submerging themselves in mud. "Sounds like fun."

Francine ignored the sarcasm in the brunette's voice. "And you've got to tell me how, between your mother and sons, the Agency and not living under the same roof, you two find time to be truly intimate…and I'm not talking about the few times I've almost caught you two in compromising positions in the Q-Bureau, either."

Amanda groaned. Maybe telling Francine about the marriage wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done. Shaking her head she followed the blonde out of the steam room, hoping to find a way to enjoy the rest of the afternoon of pampering despite the third degree she knew she was going to have to endure from Francine.

To Be Continued…


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The brisk winter wind assaulted Amanda like a slap in the face as she stepped through the restaurant door that Steven was holding open for her. Although dinner had been somewhat enjoyable, she wished more than anything that she was anywhere but here. Her date for the evening wasn't a bad guy, but she felt like a fraud, after all she was here under false pretenses. She had managed to get through dinner by making light conversation and pretending that Steven was just an old college friend, who she was catching up with. Of course she'd been telling little white lies about her life, and omitted any mention of her sons or her previous marriage. Now, however, as she stood outside in the cold January air, she was rudely reminded of what was to come next, of how the next scene in this little play was supposed to proceed and it wasn't one that she was looking forward to at all.

Steven looked appreciatively at the brunette standing in front of him. She seemed to be a million miles away, lost in her own world. She was probably thinking about that jerk from last night, and truthfully, he could understand her thoughts being somewhere else. His were as well. He kept thinking about his little boy and what he was being forced to do to ensure his son's safety. Reaching out, he lightly touched his date's arm. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Amanda shook her head slightly and smiled shyly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I haven't been very good company tonight, have I?"

Steven chuckled. "Nonsense, I couldn't have asked for a more charming and beautiful dinner companion."

Despite the cold air, Amanda felt her face blush. "You're too kind, Steven."

"I never lie to beautiful woman." Steven took Amanda's hand in his and bringing it up to his lips, he placed a lingering kiss on her fingers.

A shiver ran up and down her spine, and Amanda fought the urge to rip her hand from his. His warm lips on her fingers held a promise of what he wanted out of this night, and she had to keep telling herself that this was only a job, and that she was just playing a part. "You really are very sweet, Steven and I had a very nice time, but it's getting late…"

Without letting go of Amanda's hand, Steven looked pleadingly into her eyes. "I don't suppose I could convince you to come back to my place for a hot beverage, a sort of rain check for the one that I offered last night?"

Amanda looked down at her hand in his. "I really should be getting home…" Hoping that she had kept herself from sounding too eager, she glanced up at Steven and sighed. "Then again, it'd be a shame to end this wonderful evening too soon." She shivered again as thoughts about where this night was heading crept back into her consciousness. "So I think I will take you up on your offer." She smiled demurely at her date. "Shall we go?"

Steven's face beamed as he offered his arm. "With pleasure."

Amanda forced herself to slip her arm through the one Steven was offering. Falling into step beside him so that he could lead her towards his apartment, she couldn't help feeling like she was on autopilot as she did her best to compartmentalize her own feelings and emotions. Instead, she thought back to what had transpired in the restaurant and realized that if anyone were to ask her what she'd had for dinner, she wouldn't be able to tell them. She'd have to ask Francine later, as her order was most likely transmitted through the wire and had been recorded. What little conversation she did remember, just made her feel guilty. She had pulled on all her Agency training and had managed to convince Steven that she was glad that things were over between her and Lee. She had lied and told him that Lee had been cheating on her. Of course none of it was true, and she was just thankful that her husband wasn't listening, and that he would, hopefully, never get a hold of the tapes. She'd have to remember to talk to Mr. Melrose about putting the tapes under a higher clearance level than Lee's.

No matter how much the lies made her feel guilty, Amanda just had to keep reminding herself that she was playing a part in a play, and that nothing she said was real. That she, Amanda Stetson, wasn't the one saying these things, but her alter ego for the night, Amanda West, was. And apparently Amanda West was playing her part extremely well, because Steven was either too distracted himself, or was really and truly quite smitten with her. Otherwise he wouldn't have invited her back to his place, would he? She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized how far or how long they'd walked until it dawned on her that they had actually stopped walking and were now standing in front of what she assumed was Steven's apartment complex. Her assumptions were confirmed when the doorman greeted her date by name.

"Mr. Richmond, rather chilly evening to be out, isn't it?" The elderly doorman asked as he held the door open for the blond man and his date to enter the building's lobby.

"Yes, Walter it is. You try and stay warm." Steven smiled as he allowed Amanda to enter through the door ahead of him. Once inside the lobby, he took her hand in his and led her towards the elevators.

"How long have you lived here? I guess it's a pretty long time seeing as how your doorman, Walter wasn't it, seems to know you. I always wondered why apartment buildings hire older gentlemen to stand at the door. They can't really provide much protection and it seems awfully cruel to make elderly gentlemen stand outside in extremely cold weather." Amanda stopped rambling when she noticed Steven staring at her with an amused expression on his face. "Oh, my gosh, I'm sorry, I tend to ramble sometimes."

Steven let out a good-natured laugh "I'm just amazed that it took you so long to take a breath." He reached out and pushed the up call button.

Amanda let out a self-conscious chuckle. "It's a gift I inherited from my mother." She mentally berated herself. '_Get it together, Amanda. You've got a job to do_.' Feeling Steven's fingers rubbing ever so gently across the fingers of the hand he held, she stared at the elevator doors, willing them not to open. Unfortunately, the doors in front of her did open, and she took a deep breath as she followed Steven into the waiting car. As the doors closed, she glanced over at her companion and tried to swallow the apprehension that was rising within her. Her mind drifted to the last time she had ridden in an elevator with Lee. Although it seemed like ages ago, in reality, it had only been two days. It had taken them no time at all to arrive at Lee's apartment building for their 'early lunch' and even less time to get from the car to the elevators. The second the elevator doors had closed they were in each other's arms, sharing a passionate kiss and unable to keep their hands from roaming all over each other's bodies. That elevator ride had been an extremely enjoyable one, and was so much different from the one of trepidation that she was experiencing now.

Amanda glanced down at her hand in Steven's, and she couldn't help but wonder how far she was going to have to go tonight. He hadn't tried to kiss her yet, but she knew, from the hunger she'd seen in his eyes outside the restaurant, that that step wasn't very far away. Once they shared that first kiss, she didn't know how she was going to be able to push the guilt away and had a feeling that, no matter how far things went, she was going to have a very hard time looking her husband in the eye for a very long time. She was very thankful that Mr. Melrose had banished Lee almost sixty miles away in Rockville. She was so deep in thought, that she jumped slightly when the elevator dinged, alerting her to their arrival on Steven's floor.

Steven smiled warmly as he led Amanda out of the elevator and down the hall. He'd brought quite a few women down these halls, but not one of them seemed as nervous as the beautiful brunette beside him. He knew she'd just broken up with someone, someone who obviously hadn't been treating her the way she deserved to be treated, and he had every intention of making her feel like a goddess tonight. The deed he was being forced to do the day after tomorrow made him want to savor every last moment until then. Amanda West was probably going to be the last woman he got to spend the night with for a very long time, because after Friday he was either going to end up in jail or dead.

Reaching his apartment door, Steven reluctantly let go of Amanda's hand and dug his keys out of his pocket. Unlocking his door, he opened it and stepped aside to let her enter ahead of him. "Home sweet home. Or, as the saying goes, it's a place I can hang my hat." He followed Amanda inside and shut the door behind him. "Most of my days and nights are spent working so I rarely spend too much time here."

Amanda stepped inside the apartment and glanced around. She could truly believe that he didn't spend much time here. There were piles of magazines all around and what furniture there was, didn't appear to receive any kind of regular dusting. Aside from the small piles of clutter, there were only half a dozen pieces of furniture. A small coffee table was in front of the brown leather couch that sat facing the fireplace, and in the corner beside the fireplace was a tiny entertainment center with a few records, a stereo and a television set. To her right was a small kitchenette with a table and two chairs. To her left was the hallway, which had only two doors. Since one was open, she could clearly see that it was the bathroom, which meant that the other door led to the bedroom and she shuddered slightly.

Steven stepped behind her and gently began to remove her coat. "Make yourself at home." He turned and hung her coat on the coat rack just inside the door. "I'll go and rustle up that coffee."

Amanda nodded and glanced around the room again. There was definitely no denying the fact that this was a bachelor's pad. Except for the lack of furniture, it reminded her of the first apartment of Lee's that she'd been to and she had a sudden urge to start cleaning the place, but instead, noticing a few pictures on the mantle, she put her purse down on the coffee table and walked over to the fireplace. A photo of a young boy, who probably wasn't much older than nine or ten, caught her eye. Looking around the room once more, she realized his face smiled back at her from three other pictures in the room. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but the little boy in these pictures, he kind of looks a little bit like you…is he yours?"

Steven pulled two mugs down from the cabinet as well as a bottle of whiskey. He figured that a little alcohol might go a long way in making Amanda relax a little, but not so much that he would feel like he was taking advantage of her. Turning towards the living room, he let out a sigh. "Yes, he's mine. He's the only thing in this world that really matters to me."

Amanda turned to face Steven. Neither his file nor Francine had mentioned that he had been married before. "I take it that since you're living alone, that you and his mother are no longer together?"

Steven realized that the coffee pot had stopped percolating and turned to begin pouring the hot beverage. "I wouldn't say that we're not together anymore, because truthfully we never were. We met in college. We were young and impetuous, and definitely not careful." He finished pouring the coffee, and added a few drops of whiskey. Picking up the two mugs, he walked into the living room. "John was the result of our one passionate night. Neither one of us was ready for marriage, but Anna, that's John's mother, wouldn't hear of not keeping him." Walking over to Amanda, he handed her one of the steaming mugs. "I'm glad she did, keep him that is. I can't imagine my life without him."

Amanda moved over and sat down on the couch. "Do you get to see him very often. I mean, it seems to me that you work a lot and you said you only get two nights off a week."

Steven sat down very close to Amanda. "I usually have every other Saturday off and I spend it with John." His gaze fell to the picture on the mantle and he let out a long disheartened sigh. "Unfortunately, his mother took him on a little trip and I haven't seen him in almost a month." Needing to change the mood so as not to think about the unexpected trip, under heavy guard, that his son and Anna had been forced to take, he rose from the couch and placed his mug down on the coffee table. "How about a little music?"

Amanda nodded. "That sounds wonderful." She was thankful for his suggestion, because it provided her with the perfect opportunity to put the knockout drug into his coffee. Keeping an eye on her companion, she put her own mug down and then removed one of the faux buttons from her blouse. Leatherneck had placed two new buttons on her shirt earlier. He had placed the one with the wire along her collar, and the other, which had been placed along the wrist of her blouse, was actually the knockout drug. She had been afraid that if she got too nervous she wouldn't remember which button was the right one and might accidentally put the wrong one in the drink. However, after having voiced her fears to Leatherneck, he had assured her that she wouldn't be able to make that mistake. While one of the buttons was a real pearl with the mini wire inside, the other was the pill wrapped in a tiny sheath of pearl-colored paper. If she could pull the paper off, then she had the right one. Glancing over towards the stereo, she assured herself that Steven's attention was still busy trying to find the right music to fit the mood. She quickly removed the tiny wrapper and dropped the pill into the coffee. She watched as it quickly dissolved and left no trace that the drink had been tampered with. Then, after shoving the small wrapper into the pocket of her skirt, she reached over, picked up her own mug and leaned back into the leather cushions.

Steven placed the needle down on the record, turned the volume up to the perfect level and then walked back over to the couch. Sitting back down, he placed his arm around Amanda's shoulder and pulled her closer to him. With his free hand, he moved a few of strands of hair away from her neck. Playing with the strands, he began placing light kisses on her neck, letting his other hand move tenderly up and down her arm. "Have I told you how beautiful you are? Your skin, it's like silk." He felt her shudder, and assumed that he was having the desired effect on her. Releasing her soft hair, he took the mug from her hand and placed it on the table. He then placed his hand on her leg and began a slow massage up and down.

Amanda shuddered again. She was sure that Steven was mistaking her actions for desire, when they were really feelings of distaste. She turned to look at him. "You know, I don't usually do this, go back to another man's apartment on the first date."

Steven removed his hand from her leg and brought it up to slide her blouse a few inches away from her neck. He began to trail kisses along her collarbone. "I promise, that whatever happens here tonight, I won't think any less of you in the morning." He placed another kiss on her neck. "I have a feeling that after the way that jerk treated you, cheating on you like that, that you need to be shown just how desirable you are." He placed a kiss on her chin. "Let me wipe away all those unpleasant memories of him." He then captured her lips with his.

Despite her best intentions, Amanda's body began reacting to Steven's soft lips on hers. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, he was a very good kisser. She leaned into the kiss, and wrapped her arm around his neck. She let her hand wander up into his hair. It wasn't soft like her husband's; suddenly, at the same instant that the memory of her husband came back into her mind, she felt Steven's hand on her waist inching its way closer and closer toward her breast while the other crept up her thigh, and she let out a small gasp. Taking a deep breath, she placed her hands on his chest and abruptly pushed away from him.

"I'm sorry." Steven smiled apologetically at her. "I'm taking this too fast, aren't I?"

Amanda shook her head as she slid a little further away from him. "It's not that, really. I just…I just need to take a few minutes, do you mind if I use your bathroom?"

Steven removed his arms from around her. "No, please be my guest."

"Thank you." Amanda rose from the couch. "I promise not to take too long." Wanting to run towards the front door and out of his apartment, she took a deep breath and made her way towards the bathroom instead. As soon as she entered the small room, she closed and locked the door behind her, and then turned on the water. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the collar of her shirt closer to her mouth. "Francine, I'm fine, just taking a break. I know you can't respond, well you can but I won't be able to hear you, but I just wanted to tell you that I have to give you a lot of credit, this is a lot harder than I had imagined, and I pretty much figured it was going to be difficult. I feel like I'm cheating…well you know what I mean. Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that I was able to put the drug in his drink, so hopefully I can get him to drink the coffee and the drug will work fast. I really don't want to be here any longer than necessary, and I really don't feel like knocking him out with a lamp. Oh and later, you'll have to tell me if Steven's brother was as bad as Steven is, his hands are all over the place. If I didn't know better I'd think he was part octopus. Anyway, I'd better get back out there, I don't want him becoming suspicious or worried."

Amanda threw a little water on her face, and then dried it off again. Turning off the water, she turned and, putting her hand on the doorknob, took a deep breath. '_You can do this. Your country is depending on you_.' With that pep talk over, she took another deep breath and opened the bathroom door. She walked back over to the couch and as she sat back down, she noticed that Steven's mug was now empty. She breathed a mental sigh of relief. Now she only had to play her cover until the drug knocked him out. "I'm sorry if I took too long." She sat back down in her previous spot on the couch. "I really didn't mean…" Her words were cut off when Steven captured her lips with his once more.

"I can wait all night." He murmured against her lips. He then began to trail kisses along her cheek and her neck.

"You've been so attentive, and I guess I'm a little hesitant because I feel as if I'm using you." Amanda sighed dramatically.

Steven placed his hand on her collar and once again pulled it slightly aside, giving him better access to her neck. "I'm not expecting any kind of commitment, I just want to show you how beautiful you are, and treat you as you deserve to be treated." His hand moved to the top button of her blouse and he quickly unbuttoned it. Moving his lips along her skin, he unbuttoned the next two buttons and began kissing his way down to her chest.

Amanda repeated her mantra, '_You're Amanda West, not Amanda Stetson_, _and your country is counting on you_,' and forced her hand to move to the back of his neck, and ran her fingers through his hair.

"You taste so good, Amanda. Your skin is so soft." Steven murmured as he kissed the top of her breast while his fingers continued to unbutton her blouse. He smiled against her skin when he heard her moan of pleasure. When his hands reached the top of her skirt, he deftly untucked her blouse and, in one smooth motion, pushed her blouse off of her shoulders and helped her remove her arms from the sleeves. As the blouse fell to the couch with a flutter, he looked hungrily at her exposed upper body. Raising his eyes, he looked at her passionately. "I think it's time we took this someplace a little more comfortable, don't you?"

Amanda forced herself to nod, and as she felt herself being picked up and carried towards the bedroom, she glanced back at her discarded blouse and prayed that the drug would take effect very, very soon.

_SMK SMK SMK_

Francine sat in the van listening to her partner, and had to give Amanda credit. She was playing the role of a jilted woman extremely well. In fact, Amanda's usual naiveté was working extremely well for her. She was coming off as a woman who had been cheated on, but wasn't all that eager to jump into bed with the first warm body that asked her. She could hear rustling through the mike and could only imagine where Steven's hands were. She held her breath when she heard Amanda gasp. "Come on Amanda, you're doing so well, don't blow it now."

"_I'm sorry, I'm taking this too fast, aren't I?"_

Francine heard Steven ask her partner. "Come on Amanda, hang in there." She said aloud, not that her partner could hear her.

"_I'm sorry, I just need to take a few minutes, do you mind if I use your bathroom?"_

Francine hoped that Amanda was just taking a break to recollect herself, but just in case, she reached behind her and grabbed the small medical case that contained the syringe of truth serum.

"_No, please be my guest."_

"_Thank you. I promise not to take too long." _

Francine heard the bathroom door click and turned, ready to head out of the van and to her partner's rescue, if that's what Amanda needed.

"_Francine, I'm fine, just taking a break. I know you can't respond, well you can but I won't be able to hear you, but I just wanted to tell you that I have to give you a lot of credit, this is a lot harder than I had imagined, and I pretty much figured it was going to be difficult. I feel like I'm cheating…well you know what I mean_. "

Francine couldn't help but laugh at her partner's rambling. If Amanda was rambling, that meant she was nervous, but from her words, she knew that Amanda had no intention of taking the easy way out.

"_Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that I was able to put the drug in his drink, so hopefully I can get him to drink the coffee and the drug will work fast. I really don't want to be here any longer than necessary, and I really don't feel like knocking him out with a lamp_."

Francine laughed again as she remembered their earlier conversation. She had only been slightly joking at the suggestion of using that method to knock Steven out, however, she had a feeling that her partner would probably use a lamp if necessary.

"_Oh and later, you'll have to tell me if Steven's brother was as bad as Steven is, his hands are all over the place. If I didn't know better I'd think he was part octopus. Anyway, I better go back out there, don't want him getting suspicious or worried_."

Francine made a mental note to let Amanda know that yes, Daniel had been all hands, too. Guess things like that were family traits. She turned and placed the medical case back on the shelf she had grabbed it from. She was just about to turn back towards the recording equipment when the back door started to open. Reaching for her gun, she pulled it out and aimed it towards the intruder.

"Francine, don't shoot, it's just me." The uninvited guest announced as he climbed in the back of the van.

Francine let out a loud grunt as she put her gun back in its holster. "Lee Stetson, what the hell are you doing here? Do you have any idea how many rules you're breaking by being here?" She looked down at her watch. "And, if I'm not mistaken, you're supposed to be on a stakeout with Fielder right now. Billy's going to have your hide."

Lee took a seat on the small vacant chair along the wall. "I know, but I had to check in on Amanda."

Francine turned towards the freshman agent sitting in the driver's seat. "Johnson, would you mind going to get me a cup of coffee, and get yourself one, too."

Johnson gave Lee a curious glance. "Are you sure, Francine?"

Francine nodded. "Yes, Johnson, I'm sure. I promise that you won't get into trouble for leaving your post, especially since I, the senior agent, ordered you to go. Now go." She watched as Johnson nodded and then climbed out of the van. She waited to hear the driver door close shut, before turning and glaring at Lee. "You can drop the act, Scarecrow. You drove all the way over here because you want to find out just how far she's willing to go. You're one jealous man, Lee Stetson."

"I am not jealous! I'm just worried about my partner. I'm a male, and I know what kind of hormones run rampant through a man's body." Lee leaned back against the van and crossed his arms across his chest. "How long have they been in there?"

Francine shrugged. "Not too long, a half an hour at most. How did you find me anyway?"

"I knew where the restaurant was, so I drove around until I found the van." Lee paused when he heard Steven's voice.

"_You taste so good, Amanda. Your skin is so soft."_

Lee tensed when he heard his wife let out a moan of pleasure. Was she enjoying herself or just playing her part very, very convincingly. His fists clenched as his mind wandered back to the reason he had driven over here in the first place. His original plan to come by and check up on his wife earlier in the evening had been slightly derailed when Billy had given him additional paperwork that just had to be done before he left for his surveillance assignment. He was convinced that it was his section chief's way of ensuring that he didn't have any free time to go over to Alexandria. Which, if that was the case, seemed to work perfectly, because before he knew it, he had only twenty minutes to get over to meet with Fielder. However, once he had gotten in his car, the need to check up on his wife overpowered any amount of common sense he might have had. So, instead of getting on the Beltway towards Rockville, he found himself heading towards Alexandria, while images of Richmond kissing and fondling his wife played over and over in his mind. The closer he got to his destination his jealous mind seemed to take over all rational thoughts, as he remembered the conversation he'd overheard between Francine and Amanda in the Q-bureau this morning. He kept wondering if Amanda was actually attracted to Richmond and exactly how far would she willingly go, and if she would react to all his caresses and kisses like she did when they made love.

"_I think It's time we took this some place a little more comfortable, don't you?"_

Lee let out a low growl. "Why that son of a…"

Francine glared at him again. "That son of a what, Lee? For someone who claims not to be jealous…"

"Francine, why are we only hearing music? Where did they go?" Lee began to move forward, ready to bolt out of the van.

Francine placed her hand on his arm. "Don't you even dare think of running to her rescue. I haven't heard one sound from Amanda that sounded anything like she was in distress. She can take care of herself. She already got word to me that she was able to put the drug into his drink. I'm sure she got him to drink it." She fixed him with a hard stare. "In case you've forgotten, I'm supposed to be Amanda's backup and we've already worked out a code so that if she needs my help I'll know. Besides, you're not even supposed to be here. If you go off half-cocked now, you'll blow the whole operation."

Lee wasn't paying any attention to what his friend was saying. "Where was the mike that Leatherneck outfitted Amanda with?" He was beginning to grow very worried and despite his protests to the contrary, the little green monster was rearing its ugly little head. His mind was replaying all the various scenarios that had been running through his head the whole drive over here, and he had a pretty good idea of what was taking place inside Richmond's apartment at this very moment.

"Leatherneck put it in a button on her blouse." Francine gave her friend a sympathetic look. "I'm guessing that he's carried her off to the bedroom and she was forced to leave her shirt behind."

"More like she chose to leave it behind so that she could enjoy herself without worrying about the Agency equipment recording the entire rendezvous and me hearing it later on. That way she wouldn't have to admit how far things really went." Lee glared at the recorder willing voices to come back through the mike.

Without a moment's hesitation, Francine reached over and smacked Lee hard on the back of his head.

"Ouch!" Lee brought his hand up and began rubbing the spot his fellow agent had just struck. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Because it was the only way I knew how to physically knock some sense into that addle-minded male brain of yours." Francine glared at him and shook a finger in his direction. "If you think that Amanda wants to cheat on you, then Richmond was right earlier when he told Amanda that she was better off without you."

"Francine…I don't know what you're talking about, Amanda and I, we're just partners." Lee's voice was laced with anger and jealousy. "Wait a minute, what did you mean when you said that Richmond told her she'd be better off without me?"

"During dinner. Amanda's been playing her part, pretending to be the jilted woman and that you, the man he saw her arguing with last night, cheated on her." Francine stared at him with a knowing expression on her face. "And you can drop the whole 'we're just partners' speech. I know the truth. Amanda and I had a very nice heart-to-heart today. And even if we hadn't, I've seen the way the two of you look at each other when you think no one's watching." She kept her tone of voice cool and even. Seeing the skeptical look on her friend's face, she let out a frustrated sigh. "Now you listen to me, Lee Stetson. You need to get your head out of your ass and start acting like an agent and not a jealous man in love. Then you need to realize that the woman in there," she pointed towards the apartment complex, "who's putting her life and her principals on the line for her country loves you and would rather die than betray you."

Francine took a deep breath. "And furthermore, if you think that a woman enjoys throwing herself at a man to get him talk, you are sadly mistaken. Speaking from experience, I can tell you that it is neither fun nor enjoyable in the least. You feel like you're prostituting yourself, and when you're involved with someone else, it's even worse. Do you think Amanda would feel any better if she was in your position and the roles were reversed?"

Lee shook his head. "No, I know for a fact that it's not easy. I still don't know how she kept her emotions under control when she had to listen to me with Sonja Chenko, during that whole Stemwinder mess."

"Knowing what I know now, she was able to do it because she loved you and she trusted you." Francine's voice softened a little. "You'd know how much she trusted you and had faith in you if you'd seen her when we sat in Billy's office listening to the tape of you and Sonja the night they dragged you off. She defended your honor in a way that I've never seen her do before. She trusted you, Lee and you need to trust her now."

Lee looked down at the floor of the van, feeling properly chastised. Francine was right; he was letting his jealousy take over. The whole ride over here, he'd let his overactive imagination get the better of him. But he knew better, he knew his wife and he knew that she didn't want to do this any more than he wanted her to. If it wasn't for their stupid secret marriage, she wouldn't be in another man's apartment and he wouldn't be sitting in this van thinking all sorts horrible thoughts about where Steven Richmond's hands and lips were. He needed to trust his wife and needed to believe that she would only go as far as necessary. Perhaps it was better that he wasn't able to hear what was going on, because he would probably be in there in an instant, beating the man within an inch of his life for even laying a hand on his wife. Billy had been right to send him to Rockville. The sudden ringing of the van phone interrupted his thoughts.

Francine reached over and picked up the receiver. "Desmond … yes, he's right here … hold on," she held the phone out to Lee, "It's for you."

Lee put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"_Scarecrow, when Fielder called to say that you never showed up, I just knew I'd find you there. I've given you a lot of slack over the years, but this one takes the cake. Don't think you're getting off with just a warning this time, I'm putting an official reprimand in your file_."

Lee rolled his eyes and muttered. "Well it isn't the first, and I'm sure it won't be the last."

"_I'm in no mood for your attitude, Scarecrow. I'm giving you exactly forty-five minutes to get over to Rockville, or so help me…_"  
"I'm going, I'm going." Lee handed the phone back to Francine. As she placed the receiver back on the base, he moved towards the back door. Stepping out of the van, he looked back at his friend. "Watch out for her, Francine…and call me the minute it's all over."

Francine nodded. "I promise, now go before Billy sends out the National Guard to personally escort you to Rockville." As the door started to close, she called out. "She'll be just fine, Lee, just keep believing in her love for you." She watched him nod before his face disappeared behind the now closing door. She glanced back up when it started to open again. "Lee…Billy's going to…"

Lee poked his head back in the van. "Relax, I just have a really quick question."

Francine raised her eyebrows in exasperation. "What?"

"What exactly did you and Amanda talk about in your little heart-to-heart?" Lee eyed his friend curiously.

Francine shook her head. "That's need to know Scarecrow and right now," she reached out and grabbed the door handle, "you don't need to know. Now, goodnight." She pulled the door shut and locked it. She then glanced down at her watch before turning her attention back to the recorder. She had been so busy dealing with Lee's insecurities that she hadn't had a chance to worry about her partner. Now that the distraction was gone, her concern at the long silence upstairs was beginning to grow. '_Come on Amanda, where are you? I'm going to give you five more minutes and then I'm coming in after you. Lee's jealousy is one thing, I don't know if I could live with your guilt if you have to go all the way_.'

_SMK SMK SMK_

'_Come on drug work your magic_,' Amanda thought to herself as she ran her hands tantalizingly up and down Steven's back. Things were not going according to plan. He should have been out cold by now, but instead, things were progressing much further than she had anticipated. Her skirt had just joined Steven's shirt on the floor and he was now kissing his way back up her stomach, while his hands were fondling her breasts.

"I know I've said this already, but you really are one beautiful woman." Steven kissed a portion of skin just above her belly button. Suddenly his eyes began to droop and, shaking his head to clear the fog of sleep that had just begun to hit him, he tried to focus on his goal. Moving his hand up, he unclasped Amanda's bra and as he pushed aside the lacy fabric, he began to slip the straps off her shoulders. Leaning his head down, intent on taking her soft breast into his mouth, he found himself unable to fight the onset of sleep, and his head dropped unceremoniously into the valley between her breasts.

Amanda let out a sigh of relief as she lifted his head off of her breasts and pushed him away as fast as she could. "It's about time." She muttered aloud. Rolling the blond man over onto his back, she re-clasped her bra before sliding down off the bed. Bending down she picked up her skirt and fought back the tears that threatened to escape. If he hadn't passed out when he did, she was sure she'd have reached for his bedside lamp. Pulling her skirt on, she zipped it up and headed out of the bedroom, intent on retrieving her discarded blouse. As she passed the bathroom, she stopped and caught her disheveled reflection in the mirror. Smoothing her hair, she pressed her fingers to her nose, hoping to keep the tears at bay. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shower and was very tempted to jump in and wipe away all remnants of Steven's hands and lips from her body, however, she knew she had a job to do.

Tearing her eyes away from the bathroom, Amanda headed over to the couch and picked up her blouse. Slipping her arms through the sleeves, she glanced one more time towards the bathroom. '_There'll be time to wash away the memory of tonight later_.' She began buttoning her blouse. "Francine, I'm back online and Steven is out cold. Hopefully what Leatherneck said about the drug is true and that he's not really out, but in a semi-conscious state. So if the drug works, all I have to do is ask him questions and he'll have no choice but to answer me truthfully, as if he were talking in his sleep." Buttoning the last button, she took a deep breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble, guess I'm just glad that he's finally out." She began walking back towards the bedroom. "I'm heading back in to start questioning him."

Amanda entered the bedroom and moved over to the bed. She put the pillows up against the headboard, and then placing her hands under Steven's arms, she pulled him up into a sitting position. She than sat down next to him so that the mike would be able to pick up everything he said. "Steven… Steven can you hear me?"

Steven nodded his head slowly. "Mmmhmmm…"

"Good, can you tell me your full name?" Although Amanda was eager to get all the questions out of the way and get out of here, she wanted to make sure the drug was working.

"Steven Michael Richmond."

Amanda nodded. She knew from his file that that was correct. "Okay, I want to know what your responsibility on Friday at the Inauguration will be."

"I'm going to be part of President-Elect Bush's close personal detail."

"So when he's being sworn in, where will you be?" Amanda adjusted her position on the bed slightly when Steven's hand moved involuntarily closer to her leg.

"I'll be standing right next to him."

"Steven I understand that you're planning on killing the President-Elect, is this true?"

"Yes."

Amanda took a deep breath, at least their intelligence had been good and what she'd put herself through tonight hadn't been for nothing. "How and when are you planning on killing him?"

"A poison-tipped pen will be delivered to my apartment Friday morning. Then, I'm to wait until he's walking out to the steps and then stab him with it. He'll be dead before he finishes taking the oath."

Amanda shuddered slightly. She wasn't sure which was worse, poison coursing through your veins or a bullet. "Steven, why are you doing this?"

"To save my son."

Amanda's eyebrows furrowed. "Your son is in danger?"

"Yes, they took him and his mother to ensure that I do this. If I don't their captors said they'll both face a fate worse than death."

Amanda felt as if someone had just clamped a hand around her own heart. No wonder Steven was doing this. "Who took John and Anna?"

"Anton Stoev."

"How did you get mixed up with Anton Stoev?" Amanda tried to keep her mind focused, but thoughts of Steven's little boy in the hands of someone like Stoev made her blood run cold.

"I gambled away my savings and started borrowing money from a man who turned out to be Stoev's cousin."

Amanda couldn't understand anyone's need to gamble, and couldn't help but wonder just how much money someone had to be in debt for that it to be worth the life of a young boy. "How much money do you owe Stoev's cousin?"

"I owe close to a quarter million dollars. So Stoev took John and Anna as collateral. If I kill Bush, then my debt has been repaid and they go free. If I don't he said he'll turn them over to the Libyans."

Amanda shuddered. After her rescue from the hands of Birol, she had asked Lee what would have happened to her if she had been sold to the Libyans. Lee had been reluctant to tell her at first, but she had told him that if he didn't tell her, she had other resources and would find out. Lee had finally relented and when he was done telling her, she wished she had never asked. He had told her that she would have been a prisoner for two or three years in the desert, most likely forced to do things no one should be forced to do, and every so often they would parade her around, doing everything in their power to try and break her will to live. Then one day, they'd succeed and her will to live would be replaced by only one wish…to die. He had glossed over the more graphic images of what her imprisonment would have been like, but she had gotten the picture. She swallowed the bile that had begun to rise and forced herself to focus back on the task at hand. "If you should fail, does Stoev have a backup plan?"

"Yes, Stoev managed to bribe the driver of Bush's car. I don't know what the driver's role will actually be, but Stoev did say that he'd be equipped with a poisoned dart gun."

"Okay Steven, you rest. You have a busy few days ahead." Amanda moved off of the bed and began walking out of the bedroom. "I hope you got all of that, Francine. The Secret Service is going to have their hands full on this one." She moved into the foyer and pulled a folded piece of paper from her coat pocket. As she began walking back towards the bedroom, her gaze fell on the picture of Steven's son on the mantle and her mind began to wander back to Khai's son and then her own two boys. Children were innocents, they should not be used as collateral to make their parents do things they wouldn't normally do.

Then again, she realized, that that was exactly why the bad guys always used them. Wasn't that why they had agreed to keep their marriage secret, so that they could protect her sons? Amanda began to wonder if Phillip and Jamie were in trouble, would she be willing to take another person's life just to save theirs? She quickly shook her head. She wouldn't and she wouldn't have to act alone, either. She'd get help. Mr. Melrose, Francine, and especially Lee would be there to aide her. Lee loved her boys as if they were his own. He'd never let anything happen to them, which was all the more reason to have a serious talk with her husband about ending the mystery part of their marriage. They owed it to themselves to become a real family, if for no other reason than to keep situations like tonight from ever happening again.

Taking a deep breath, Amanda turned and walked back into the bedroom. Opening the paper she read the note one more time to make sure that it left nothing to chance.

_Dear Steven, _

_Thank you for a wonderful evening. I'm sorry that I slipped out on you, but you must have had a rough week because you fell asleep. In a way I'm kind of glad, because it kept me from doing something I know I wouldn't have felt right about in the morning. Ours was a chance encounter, and I'll never forget the man who made me feel desirable. Thank you and take care._

_- Amanda_

Amanda folded the note and placed it on the nightstand beside Steven's bed. She then turned and headed back out of the bedroom. She walked over to the coffee table and retrieved her purse. Noticing the two coffee mugs, she picked them up and walked into the kitchen. Not wanting to leave any evidence of the drug around, she placed the mugs into the sink and quickly washed them. She then put them in the dishwasher, making it look as if she had only rinsed them out. With that taken care of, she moved over to the door and removed her coat from the coat rack. "Okay Francine, the note is in place, I've wiped away any trace of the drug, and I'm out of here. I'll meet you back at the Agency." Putting her coat on, she glanced around the apartment one more time. Content that everything was taken care of, she opened the door and walked out into the hallway. Closing the apartment door behind her, she briskly walked down the hallway towards the elevator, eager to get back to the Agency, be debriefed and head home to try and forget that this evening ever happened.

To Be Continued…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Lee unlocked his apartment door and, stepping inside, prayed that his wife was there. He had gotten back to the Agency after his shift on the stakeout had ended, and after getting properly chewed out again for showing up in Alexandria, he had gotten an update from Billy on Amanda's case. He had been overjoyed to hear that his wife had gotten Richmond to talk in just under an hour, and that they had enough information to stop the assassination. He had then raced to his car and driven over here as fast as he could. He hoped that she had come to the apartment like she had mentioned earlier, and that she hadn't gone home. Her car out front was a good sign, but since it had been there all day, she could just as easily have had a cab take her home to Arlington, rather than here to the apartment. He really needed his wife to be here so that he could wrap his arms around her and apologize for being an ass. Closing the door behind him, he locked it and began searching his apartment for any telltale signs that Amanda was home.

Not seeing any sign of her in the living room, he entered his bedroom and breathed a sigh of relief. Her clothes were lying in a heap on the floor and he could hear the shower running. He moved over to the bathroom and as soon as he opened the door he was assaulted by the steam and heat of the shower. From the moisture on the mirror and the fact that his bathroom resembled a sauna, his wife had obviously been in the shower for a very long time. He opened his mouth to alert his wife to his presence when he caught the faint sound of sobbing coming from within the shower. "Amanda…are you okay?"

"Lee?" Amanda choked back another sob and continued to urgently rub soap all over her body.

"Yes, honey, it's me." Lee kept the bathroom door open to let some of the heat leave the room. "How long have you been in here?"

"Not long enough." She lathered her hands again and rubbed some more soap across her chest and shoulders. Then, for what was probably the twentieth time since she'd gotten into the shower, she let the tears continue to flow and she stood under the hot spray trying to cleanse her sins away.

Lee moved closer to the tub. "What do you mean not long enough? Amanda, exactly how long have you been in the shower?"

"Since I got home." Amanda reached for the soap again. "And I don't plan on coming out until I stop feeling so dirty. I keep scrubbing and scrubbing but the feeling just won't go away. I can't face you until I've washed the feeling of his lips on me away."

Lee reached into the shower and shut off the water. "Amanda, I think you've been in here way too long." He grabbed the towel from the rack and pulled the shower curtain open.

"What did you do that for?" Amanda grabbed the shower curtain with one hand intent on pulling it closed, and reached out to turn the water back on with the other. "I'm not finished."

Lee immediately placed his hand on hers to stop her from turning the water back on. "Yes, you are. You're starting to look like a withered prune." He then opened the oversized towel and wrapped it around his wife, taking note of her bloodshot eyes. Lifting her out of the shower, he carried her into their bedroom, her sobs echoing in his ear. As he sat down on the bed, he placed her in his lap, enveloping her in his arms, and hugged her tightly to him. "Shh…it's going to be okay." He whispered into her ear as he began to slowly rock her back and forth.

Amanda brought a hand to her face and began to wipe away the tears, as she tried to get her emotions under control. "I'm sorry, Lee. I didn't want you to see me this way. I know how much you hate tears."

Lee pulled back slightly, so he could look directly at his wife. "They don't scare me as much as they used to." He smiled lightly as he leaned in and placed a tender kiss on her cheek, where a few stray tears still lingered.

Amanda looked down at her lack of attire and noticed the water still present on her legs and in her hair. "Lee, I'm getting you all wet." She protested as she tried to push herself out of her husband's arms.

Lee responded by tightening his arms around her and pulling her closer to him. "I'm not letting you out of my arms until we've talked about why you felt like you had to turn our bathroom into a sauna." He gazed in the direction of the small room. "Besides, I'm afraid if I let you go, you're going to run right back in there. I don't want to risk management turning off my water because I've reached my quota for the month." He looked back at his wife with a teasing grin on his face.

Amanda looked away from him and tried once again to push herself off of her husband's lap. "Lee, please, let me go. I'm not worthy of your love and understanding right now, at least not until I stop feeling so guilty."

Lee relaxed his arms slightly and looked at his wife apprehensively. "Amanda…just exactly how far did you end up going with Richmond?"

Amanda looked into his eyes and saw the worry and fear of betrayal in them. She swallowed hard and looked away from his intense hazel gaze. "Not as far as some agents would have, but enough to make me feel like I cheated on you." She tried once more to extricate herself from her husband's embrace, and with his arms slightly relaxed, she was able to successfully remove herself from his lap. Holding onto the towel tightly, she tied it at her chest and walked over to the window. "I should have listened to you. We should have found a way to tell everyone that we're married so that I had a valid reason for not taking this assignment."

Lee noticed the slight slump in his wife's shoulders and could hear the tightness in her voice. No matter how jealous he had gotten, he should have had more trust in his wife's feelings for him. The mental beating she was putting herself through was enough to make him realize just how much she loved him and that it was killing her knowing that she'd betrayed him, even a little. That knowledge was enough to wipe away all doubts and insecurities he'd allowed himself to have all evening.

Rising from the bed, Lee walked over to his wife and placed his hands gently on her shoulders guiding her to turn around and look at him. He put his finger under her chin and forced her to gaze up at him. "Amanda, I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that knowing that you had to do things with Richmond that only I should get the pleasure of doing with you, doesn't bother me, because it does. And I'm not going to say that it didn't affect me in the least, because it did. It hurt like hell to think about what was going on in his apartment tonight. But I love and respect you, and I always will." He looked directly into her eyes. "I know that while Richmond was kissing your lips and your body, he never had a chance of touching your heart, or your soul."

Lee leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her lips. "The important thing is that we both know, deep down, that our hearts and souls have been pledged to each other." He placed a kiss on her nose. "Your heart belongs to me," he placed a kiss on her left eye, "just as mine belongs to you." He placed another kiss on her right eye. "Nothing either one of us has to do in the line of duty will ever change that."

Amanda wrapped her arms around her husband and buried her face into his chest. "I love you, so much. I don't know what I did to deserve someone as wonderful and understanding as you."

Lee returned her embrace. "I love you, too. Just remember that." He felt his wife nod against him. "Because what's done is done and we can't go back, but we'll find a way to make things better for our future. As long as we have each other, we can get through anything."

Amanda leaned back and looked into her husband's eyes. "Because we work best as a team."

Lee smiled. "In every aspect of our lives." He removed his arms from around her and led her back over to the bed. "Now, do you feel better?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders slightly as she sat back down on the mattress. "A little."

Lee sat down on the bed beside her. "Well, do you still feel like you want to rub your skin raw?" He leaned down and placed a kiss on her shoulder. "Because I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of that idea. I happen to like your skin just the way it is."

Amanda chuckled. "No, I think I'm done showering for tonight." She looked over and noticed something white sticking out of the pocket of his jacket. "Lee, what's that?"

Lee followed her gaze and smiled. He pulled the envelope from its resting place and then removed his jacket. "This is a present from Billy, for a job well done." He let his jacket fall to the floor, but kept the envelope at a teasing distance from his wife's grasp. "Before I give it to you, I thought you'd like an update."

Amanda shook her head and tried to grab the envelope. "The update can wait, I want to know what's in the envelope."

Lee scooted a little further away from his wife and shook his head. "Good things come to those who wait."

"Well you know, I could say the same thing." She opened her towel and gave him a tantalizing view of her bare body. Noting that her husband was either not affected or doing a very good job of pretending that he wasn't, she retied the towel. "Fine, if that's the way you want to play." She leaned back slightly on the bed, letting him think that she was giving up, however, she would be ready to pounce the minute he dropped his guard.

"Billy told me that with the taped confession you obtained, we had enough to go to the head of the Secret Service and have Richmond arrested for conspiracy to commit treason. However, because we don't want to tip Stoev's hand too soon, they're going to wait until Friday morning." Lee tried not to focus on the creamy skin of his wife's thigh that was now peeking out from under her towel. "Then they'll arrest both Richmond and the driver that he mentioned, about ten minutes before Bush walks out to take the oath of office. That way Stoev and whoever he's working with won't have enough time to put another plan into place. In the meantime, Billy's putting a couple of very discreet tails on both Stoev and Richmond, just to make sure that nothing unexpected happens between now and Friday."

Amanda gazed over at her husband with a very concerned expression. "What about St…Richmond's little boy. If they stop the assassination, Stoev will kill John and his mother without a second thought."

"Billy's taken care of that, too." Lee took his wife's hand in his and began caressing it tenderly with his thumb. Knowing his wife as well as he did, Billy knew that she would be concerned for Richmond's little boy, and made sure Lee had been informed about that part of the plan as well. "Stoev is bound to leave the Embassy to watch the inauguration in person, the minute he steps off of Embassy property, the Agency is going to take him into custody and force him to give up their location. Since he's on American soil, they'll threaten him with deportation for planning such an obvious act of terrorism. If everything goes according to plan, Richmond's son and the boy's mother will be free before Bush places his hand on the Bible."

"I sure hope that everything works out, because I don't even want to think about what could happen to that little boy." Amanda sighed and leaned her head against her husband's shoulder. "I keep thinking about what I would do if it were Phillip or Jamie being held captive, and I remember why we decided to keep our marriage a secret."

Lee placed the letter on the bed behind him, and then tenderly placed a hand on either side of her face. Turning slightly on the bed, he looked at her with an expression of love and compassion. "I know, I've been thinking the same thing ever since Billy told me about Richmond's son. But then I realized that we're not alone, not like Richmond is. I have you, and you have me, and we'd find a way to get our sons back. There was a time, not too long ago that I'd have acted on my own, but you've shown me that I can trust my friends to be there for me and that I'm not alone."

Amanda nodded slightly as she remembered hearing that Lee had gone to Francine for help in trying to rescue her from Birol. "That's what I realized too, that we aren't alone." Then, since her husband's attention was focused on her, she quickly reached behind him, grabbed the letter and was off of the bed and out of her husband's reach before he had a chance to react.

"Why you little vixen." Lee laughed as he shook his head. "Was all that talk about the boys just a diversion?"

"Of course not. I meant every word." Amanda shook her head as she pulled out the invitation. "However, it's not my fault you dropped your guard." She began reading the gold embossed letters. "Oh my gosh." She looked up at her husband, excitement and disbelief written on her face. "Is this real?"

Lee stood up from the bed and walked over to his wife. "Oh, it's real all right. So, any idea who you want to take?" He smiled slyly at his wife.

Amanda brought a finger to her lips. "Hmmm, that's a really tough choice. I could take Mother, she'd love to meet the President. Then there's always Phillip or Jamie, just think of all the papers they could write about it for school, and if they don't want to go," she gazed up at him with a hint of mischief in her eyes, "there's always Buck, my next door neighbor…"

Lee reached out and slipped his hands through the fold of the towel. Placing his hands on the bare skin of her waist, he began to slide them up towards her breasts. "I don't suppose I could persuade you to take a very tall, very handsome spy who is madly in love with you?"

Amanda closed her eyes as her husband's hands found their destination. "It might take a whole lot of persuading…" She brought her arms up and wrapped them around his neck.

"I'm prepared to use every one of my very persuasive techniques." Lee leaned down and began to nibble on her ear while his thumbs massaged the underside of each breast. "Even if it takes all night." He whispered seductively.

"Well considering the fact that we have to be back at the office pretty early tomorrow, I don't know if you'll have enough time." Enjoying the feelings her husband's fingers were stirring in her, Amanda ran her fingers through his hair.

Lee slid his hands up a little further, causing the towel to untie and fall off her slender body. "Actually, Billy gave us tomorrow and Friday off and ordered us to enjoy our very long weekend." Then as he gazed admiringly at her body, he trailed one hand lightly down her body to her legs, and slid his hand under her knees. Picking her up into his arms, he carried her over towards the bed.

"Well then, my handsome spy," Amanda nibbled her husband's neck playfully, "I believe you have plenty of time to persuade me to let you escort me to the Inaugural Ball."

Lee placed her gently down on the bed, letting his eyes once again gaze over her luscious body. "And I plan on using every last moment, too." As his wife reached out to remove his shirt from his pants, a thought struck him and he looked at her curiously. "Amanda, exactly what did you tell Francine about our relationship?"

Amanda let out a little chuckle as she pulled her husband's shirt up and over his head. She wrapped her hands around his neck, and forced his head closer to hers. "Later, Scarecrow, much, much later." She then planted a very heated kiss on his lips.

Lee realized, as he felt the passion emanating from his wife's lips, that it was pointless pursuing the issue and his mind began to concentrate on matters of a more sensual nature. He laid her back on the bed, and decided that finding out how much Francine knew could wait. They would have plenty of time for that discussion and talk of plans for the future, later. Tonight he was going to show his wife exactly how much he loved her and wipe away any remaining memories of this evening's more unpleasant experiences.

To Be Concluded…


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue **

Amanda glanced about the ballroom as she let her husband guide her around the dance floor. She couldn't believe how beautiful everything was, and how elegantly dressed all the Senators, Congressman and other distinguished guests were. She felt like she was in the middle of a wonderful fairytale dream. Leaning her head against her husband's shoulder, she sighed contentedly. Everything, for the moment at least, was right with the world. She was in her husband's strong, loving arms, and John Richmond and his mother were safe. Mr. Melrose had pulled them aside, earlier in the evening, to let them know that Stoev was under twenty-four hour guard at the Agency awaiting deportation back to Bulgaria.

Mr. Melrose had told them that, after about an hour of 'persuasion', Stoev had begrudgingly divulged the location of his captives. They had been held captive in the basement of the Bulgarian Embassy. So the Agency, with the help of a contact or two within the Embassy, had gotten both mother and son out safely. Anton Stoev had also admitted that he'd been working alone, but that his threat to Steven, about selling John and Anna to the Libyans, had been true.

Amanda let out another sigh as she thought about the tragedies of life and what makes men do evil things. Apparently Anton Stoev had arranged to have his wife and daughter come to the States three months ago, but something had gone wrong with their paperwork once they had arrived at Dulles, and they had been shipped back to Bulgaria. Because of the mix-up, his wife and daughter had been escorted to prison, tried and executed as defectors. Stoev blamed the U.S. for their deaths, and figured the best revenge would be to assassinate the newly elected President as he was being sworn in, sending the country into chaos. She realized that Stoev must have jumped at the chance to use Steven's family.

What better revenge than to destroy the life and family of someone whose sole job it was to protect and serve the United States, and at the same time bring disorder into the heart of his enemy?

Amanda let her eyes wander around the room again and felt proud to be a part of this world. Sure it was a world of danger, intrigue and secrets, but it was also a place where she got the chance to help save the lives of the innocent.

Lee had been watching the pride and admiration in his wife's eyes as she glanced around the ballroom. "You know, you outclass every woman here." Her red dress was simple, but elegant, with thin spaghetti straps and a very low cut back. His hand began making tiny circles on his wife's bare back.

Amanda leaned back and smiled demurely at her husband. "You're extremely biased, you know that, right?"

Lee chuckled. "Perhaps a little, but it's true. You've caught the eye of almost every man in this room." Catching the Senator from Wisconsin eyeing his wife, he pulled her possessively closer to his body.

"Well, you don't have anything to worry about, Big Fella. I'm yours and no rich Senator is going to steal me away from you." Amanda gazed lovingly into her husband's eyes as she played with the hairs at the base of his neck.

Lee watched as Billy guided his wife, Jeannie, around the dance floor not too far away and knew that there was no time like the present. "And I think its time I let everyone know that as well." Glancing around the room, he caught sight of Francine and smiled. Remembering the long discussion he and his wife had had yesterday about the blonde agent and exactly how much she knew, he realized that what he was about to do would not be as big a shock to his friend as it would be to everyone else. He also prayed that his wife wouldn't kill him for doing what he was about to do, given the fact that he hadn't discussed it with her first. He really didn't want to ruin tonight with her being mad at him, especially since he had spent the better part of yesterday dealing with her anger once she had found out that he'd been in the van Wednesday night. He hadn't planned on telling her, in fact he had hoped to find a way to bribe Francine, Billy and Johnson into never disclosing that bit of information, but when he had brought up the subject of Francine and how much she knew about their relationship, his wife had instantly begun questioning him as to how he even knew that Francine knew. He had lied and told her that he had run into Francine back at the Agency, before coming home. She had instantly known that he was lying, since Francine had given her a ride back to the apartment after her debriefing and then had gone home herself, so there was no way he could have run into her. He had groveled for the better part of the day and really didn't want to spend tonight groveling as well. Not wanting to pass up a perfect moment, however, he decided to throw caution to the wind and, ceasing their movements on the dance floor, he reached into his tuxedo jacket.

"Lee, what are you doing?" Amanda whispered as she watched her husband curiously.

"Something I should have done a long time ago." Lee pulled the familiar blue velvet box from his pocket. He then took a step back from his wife and got down on one knee. "Amanda, would you do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?"

Amanda gazed down at her husband, unable to find her voice. They had discussed coming clean, telling everyone that they were married, but hadn't decided exactly where or when. Her husband proposing to her in front of hundreds of people, however, was something she hadn't been expecting at all. She could only nod as happy tears began to stream down her face.

Lee took the diamond ring out of its box and slipped it onto her finger. "This is where your engagement ring belongs, and where it's going to stay for the rest of our lives together." He rose and embraced his wife.

Amanda leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips as her arms wrapped around his neck. "I love you."

Lee gazed longingly into her eyes, ignoring the applause and congratulations being bestowed upon them by the crowd. "And I love you."

Francine's face beamed with pride as she, along with almost every other person in the ballroom, focused their full attention on the couple in the middle of the dance floor. She longed to find that kind of love and commitment for herself one day, but for now, she was content to be extremely happy for her friends. A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and, taking two long strides, reached out and placed a hand on the gray-haired man's arm. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Dr. Smyth."

Dr. Smyth turned and glared down at the slender hand on his arm. "Desmond, if you value your job, you'll remove your hand immediately."

"I will remove it once I've said my piece." Francine fixed him with a hard stare. "I think you would be wise not to go over there and make a spectacle of yourself in front of the President and the First Lady, and everyone else who matters in this town."

"And why do you think I give a damn about what you think, Desmond?" Dr. Smyth took his hand and physically removed the blonde's from his arm. He then resumed his path towards the dance floor.

"Because it might interest you to know that the proposal you just witnessed, wasn't the first one." Francine watched as Dr. Smyth stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. She took a few steps closer to the old man and continued in a low voice, "You see, Lee was actually re-proposing to his wife, Amanda Stetson. So, if you decide to try and stop them from going ahead with their public marriage, then I'll just drop a word or two in the right ears about the person who ordered a married agent to do the Peacock Dance. I have a feeling that that person will find themselves drowning in a sea of extremely hot water." She smiled cunningly and snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, that's right, that was you wasn't it? So you should probably think twice before making any kind of threats about breaking up the team of Scarecrow and Mrs. King."

Dr. Smyth stared at the blonde disbelievingly. "Are you threatening me, Ms. Desmond?"

Francine shrugged slightly. "Take it however you want, but considering the fact that Lee and Amanda just helped save the President's life, I have a feeling he'll side with them. So go right ahead and make your little threats," she started to turn towards where President Bush was talking with the British Ambassador, "I'll just go have a nice conversation with the President."

Dr. Smyth reached out and grabbed her arm. "That won't be necessary, Desmond." He gave her a menacing glare. "I'll leave them alone…for now, but you had better warn your friends on the dance floor that if even one case goes wrong because of their marriage, I'll have their jobs." He let go of her arm and walked towards the exit to the ballroom.

Francine shook her head as she watched Dr. Smyth walk away. The man was all smoke and she knew he'd never be able to make anything stick. As long as she was around, she'd make sure that her friends' partnership remained intact. Smiling, she turned her attention back towards the couple dancing in each other's arms, with eyes only for each other, and oblivious to everyone else in the room.

_**The End**_

**Authors' End Notes:**

The events and circumstances of this story were created in our imaginations and any similarities to actual events are purely coincidental. Also, according to our information, the Inauguration of 1989 fell on Friday, January 20th, and while in real life, most schools do not have off, that we know of, for the occasion, in our story, they did. Writer's privilege J.

References are made to situations or dialogue that took place during the following SMK episodes

"_We're Off to See the Wizard_" (Season 3) – written by Whitney W. Roberson;

"_The Wrong Way Home_" (Season 3) - written by Nelson Costello & Robert W. Gilmer;

"_Stemwinder Parts 1 & 2_" (Season 4) – written by Robert W. Gilmer & George Geiger;

"_Nightcrawler_" (Season 4) – written by George Geiger;

"_Mission of Gold_" (Season 4) – written by Lynne Kelsey;

"_All that Glitters_"(Season 4) - written by D.C. Black 


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